


Stolen Relics

by Kadorienne



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (2012), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Loki wasn’t the bad guy in The Avengers, M/M, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-03
Updated: 2013-05-11
Packaged: 2017-11-27 15:53:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 37
Words: 79,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/663795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kadorienne/pseuds/Kadorienne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The only way the Avengers can save Loki from Odin's torture chamber is to invite him back to Midgard to fight alongside them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The Iron Man suit wasn't really made for formal occasions, let alone audiences with kings, but Tony was gambling that it would impress Odin. And if Odin was anything like the other two Asgardians Tony had encountered, making an impression would be paramount. Certainly the All-Father's expression didn't show any disdain when Tony hovered in - a foot above the ground, showing off just a little.

Tony landed on the floor beside Thor and knelt to remove his helmet, as Thor had instructed. Apparently there was more than one Asgardian with a thing for kneeling. Tony felt ridiculous, but Thor had beseeched him. As in, _"My friend, I know it is not the custom of Midgard, but I beseech you-"_

_"No need for beseeching, Point Break. When in Rome,"_ Tony had told him. Hey, when a linebacker-sized guy with the power of controlling lightning and big baby blue eyes beseeched you - besought you? - you did what he wanted.

As soon as Tony was on his feet again Odin was speaking. "Midgard may rest easy, Anthony Howardson. Loki will never trouble your world again."

"Actually, your Majesty, I'm here to ask you to send Loki back to Earth."

Odin's eye widened a fraction. "You wish to punish him yourself? I doubt a human prison could keep Loki confined."

"Not exactly. We're thinking more along the lines of reparations." Out of habit, Tony started to prowl restlessly around the room. Not a very big room, but grand enough, with gold bric-a-brac all over the place, and a couple of nice big ornate chairs for the king and queen to sit in, just in case anyone forgot who was who here. The queen was beautiful, by the way. Didn't look very happy, but beautiful, yes.

"Don't know how much your pride and joy there has told you about me," Tony began. "But being an Avenger is kind of a second career for me. I've spent most of my life building weapons. Designing them, running the companies that manufacture them." Well, helping to run them. Sort of helping. No need to go into those kinds of details. He needed this to look good for Odin. Pepper would forgive him. Like she forgave him everything. Almost everything. "I made sure that my country's soldiers, and those of our allies, were the best equipped soldiers on Midgard." Not bringing up how it hadn't actually worked out that way. "The sheer presence of armies with that kind of hardware was a deterrent to aggressors and kept the peace for the better part of twenty years. I privatized world peace." Tried to. Until he'd found out not only how hard it was to control who got their hands on his creations, but how few people actually merited his trust.

"Really, your Majesty," Tony continued, inclining his head to Odin in a small bow, "it's not unlike what you've done - on a much smaller scale, I'll give you that.

"Your boy - the jock, not the egghead - tells me that my planet would have been an arctic colony for the Jotuns if you hadn't beaten them back. I'm afraid that most of the details of that have passed into legend for us, but lately we've been finding out that we're not alone in the universe, and if it weren't for Asgardian hegemony, we probably would have been conquered by some aliens or other before we even figured out how to make a steam engine." And much as it galled Tony to admit it, even to himself, that was probably true. "Don't know if Earth ever got around to thanking you for it, so on Earth's behalf, much appreciated." The words wanted to stick in his throat, but Tony forced them out. And then moved on, quickly. "Your boy also tells me the Chitauri paid you guys a couple of visits lately."

"They were no match for warriors of Asgard," Odin said, dismissive.

"Of course not. But they've been coming to Earth every couple of months for almost three years now, and we only have one warrior of Asgard on our side. Another one wouldn't hurt. Plus, of course, we humans would like to see the guy who invaded us facing consequences. Just knowing that he's in jail on another planet we can't even visit isn't the same, you know?" Tony took a piece of fruit - it looked like a plum, but who knew - from a bowl on a table against the wall and turned it over in his hands, wondering if he could get away with taking it away to dissect it. Alien fruit, who knew what it was like on the inside. "All these centuries we thought Asgard was a myth. Then the first Asgardian to visit us in a thousand years - well, the first one most of us knew about - is bent on conquering the planet. Not the best PR, right?"

The royal couple just stared at him.

Tony gestured to a chair. "Can I sit down? Is that against protocol or something? Actually, this suit isn't really made for sitting, I'll stand. So, we know your boy Loki's been in jail for the past three years and change. And, yeah, three years of prison isn't really enough for invading a planet, even if he was being forced to do it."

Tony carefully neglected to mention what had been going on in that prison. He suspected this was a matter of cultural differences best left alone.

Thor looked apprehensive. Actually, Thor looked like a planet was about to fall on him.

"But keeping him languishing in a dungeon doesn't really do us any good. And we figure he isn't any fonder of the Chitauri than we are, what with them having tortured him for a year and then made him lead an invasion that got him smacked around by superheroes. It strikes us that there's a perfectly good alien wizard going to waste in your dungeon. We'd like to borrow him for a few years."

Odin seemed to be thinking it over. Frigga was watching him carefully.

"I won't lie to you, it'll be dangerous. The Chitauri are probably pissed at him and will make him a particular target. And frankly, a lot of humans are pretty pissed off at him too, not exactly eager to forgive and forget even if he does help us out, you know? No guarantee one of them won't get lucky. But it'll give your prodigal son the chance to clear the family name and all that."

"So this is what Midgard's rulers have decided upon as their wish?"

"Actually, it was my idea." Not that Tony had been particularly serious about it. He'd just been tossing the idea out there, trying to brainstorm when Thor was down in the dumps about his poor baby brother being tortured in the family dungeon. When he wasn't helping Midgard fight back the Chitauri, Thor had been begging his father for leniency ever since his crazy little brother had been sentenced. Finally Thor had tried to break Loki out and been exiled to Jotunheim for three months.

Tony had thrown the notion out casually, but Thor had jumped on it with desperation. Fury had been saddled with one of his most valuable fighters pleading with him for an unthinkable favor - that he invite Loki back to Earth to combat the very enemy he'd brought there in the first place.

It didn't help that Thor had the support of his fellow Avengers. Not that they didn't hate Loki's guts - forced to invade or not, he'd caused a lot of damage and a lot of deaths and a lot of terror - but when Thor had told them what was being done to him....

Most of the Avengers had red in their ledgers, as Natasha would put it. All of them except Steve, really. All of them, except for Steve, were missing two or three key scruples that kept most people on the right side of the line. But torture was too much for any of them. If Loki had been executed, they would have put the matter behind them. Ditto if he'd been locked up and the key thrown away. But if you let your enemies be tortured, then the distinction between good guys and bad guys became academic. Or maybe nonexistent.

Sending Tony to Asgard to ask for Loki's release was the perfect compromise from Fury's perspective. Not that he'd said so, but Tony knew what the old bastard was thinking. Fury would oblige the Avengers team by making the request, but he would send Tony to make it. Tony would of course do something to piss Odin off and would be sent home with a sharp refusal. End result for Fury: Avengers not mad at Fury, thunder god placated, no deranged alien wizard returning to Earth.

Fury had, apparently, forgotten that what Tony wanted, Tony tended to get. Even after he'd pissed off the people he had to ask for it.

And so Tony planted the seeds in his apparently rambling conversation. Loki helping Midgard would clear the name of the house of Odin. Releasing Loki would please Odin's favorite son. If the Chitauri didn't kill Loki, some angry humans might, thus ridding Odin of the problem completely.

And sure enough, after about an hour of discussion Odin agreed. "Very well, take him." The king issued a few orders to the guards and Thor gestured Tony to accompany him.

Tony followed Thor out of the audience chamber but stopped in the corridor. "Actually, is it okay if I wait here? I have a phobia of going into dungeons surrounded by guards." No fucking way was he letting the space Vikings trap him.

A few minutes later Thor appeared in the doorway, Loki leaning on him heavily. Tony stared at his planet's would-be conqueror for a moment.

"Holy fuck," said Tony.

"My brother said he wished to go to Midgard at once, but perhaps he should spend a few days in the healing room first," Thor said, uneasy.

"Fuck that." He wasn't taking any chances on Daddy Dearest changing his mind. "We can heal him on Midgard."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki is taken to Midgard and given medical care.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: The first few paragraphs of this fic describe torture in a not very graphic way. It doesn't take long to get to the comfort part of the hurt/comfort.

Sometimes Loki forgot that this dungeon was in Asgard. It was virtually identical to the one in which Thanos had kept him: small, dark, and hot. Very, very hot.

The sweltering heat made it hard to think. In his rare lucid moments, such as right after he was given his inadequate ration of water, Loki would mentally list what overheating would do to a body. It dilated the blood vessels, limiting the flow of blood to the brain and the muscles, making it hard to think, hard to move, hard to concentrate enough to do magic. He had gotten into the habit of lying still as much as possible; when he tried to walk around he fell over. Oppressive heat warped the emotions as well, this was well known. Hot weather spawned fights, murders, riots. 

Odin might one day regret having cultivated such emotions in his adopted son.

The door creaked and Loki let his head fall to the side to look at it, squinting at the shaft of light that fell upon him. That massive shape could only be Thor. Which was good news, assuming Thor hadn't come to his senses in the time since his last visit. Not a great danger, as Thor had very few senses.

"Can you stand, brother?" Thor's tone was gentle. Loki allowed those massive hands to pull him to a sitting position, and when Thor raised a cup to his lips, he gulped down the water without thought for his dignity. Plain water. Of course Thor would not realize that a bit of salt or ginger should have been mixed in. Plain water on his dehydrated stomach was going to make Loki ill. He didn't care, pouring the blessedly cool liquid down his throat anyway.

Then Thor's absurdly overmuscled arm was supporting Loki, helping him to walk - well, stumble - out of the cell. The cooler air of the corridor hit him with the force of a blow; if not for Thor holding him up, he would have fallen over.

A few guards were present. No one else. The king had not considered this, whatever this was, worth venturing into the dungeons.

"Loki? Can you understand me?"

Loki forced himself to focus on his foster brother's face. Thor's eyes were full of concern and pity. Loki felt a distant echo of anger at that, but a corner of his brain told him firmly that just now, he could not disdain any advantage. However humiliating.

He could always avenge the slight later.

"Yes." His voice was a mere croak and speaking hurt. He tried to moisten his lips, with limited success. "What's going on?"

Thor searched his face. "You are being released - conditionally."

"What condition?"

"Thanos is invading Midgard. You must go there with me and help us to fight him."

Freedom and a shot at Thanos. Had Loki's lips been less chapped he would have grinned fiercely. "The humans will allow this?"

"They put the request to Odin." Loki frowned at him until Thor admitted, "I asked them to."

"Why?"

"I could find no other way of getting you out of here! Do you accept the terms?" Thor was clutching him anxiously, one hand under his arm to support him, the other on the side of Loki's neck. 

"Of course."

The pressure of Thor's hands increased briefly, and then Thor was helping him to walk down the corridor. "Then I shall take you to the healing room, and in a day or two-"

"Can we go to Midgard right now?"

"Loki, you need healing."

"I have needed healing for - a few years now. I can recuperate on Midgard, even without healing stones. Please, Thor." Loki stopped trying to steady his voice. Being in a sorry state such as he currently was meant that manipulating took no acting, but rather a cessation of acting. "I want to get away from here."

And it seemed that Thor's protective big brother instincts were intact, because he was nodding quickly. "Then you shall. Come-"

"Wait! My rock. I need my rock."

Thor frowned at him as if he'd lost his mind. "Your _rock?"_

"In my cell, in the corner. There is a jagged grey rock, broken from the dungeon walls. I need it. I need it!" Loki had put a great deal of work into that rock. He did not, strictly speaking, need it any longer, but he did not wish to give it up. After a few more petulant requests, Thor gave in and humored him, going back into the cell and retrieving the rock.

Thor had to half-carry Loki up the steep winding staircase and to a room that held Heimdall, a few guards, and Stark, the Man of Iron. Wearing his armor, the helmet under one arm.

Stark, who was staring at Loki like he was seeing his own nightmares.

But not, Loki realized muzzily, as if Loki _was_ his nightmare. No, Stark was seeing someone who had just walked out of Stark's personal hell.

He knew Stark's history, of course. Barton had told him everything. Tony Stark had been a spoiled brat - a genius who had produced marvels, but a spoiled brat nonetheless - until he had been captured by enemies, tortured, ordered to build a missile... and instead he had created a remarkable suit of armor with which he had vanquished his tormentors. The story was uncomfortably parallel to Loki's own, except that Stark had found a better way out than Loki had. One that left him officially one of the good guys.

That distinction, however, was currently moot. Stark was gazing at Loki with a particular kind of horror. One that said that he was only too familiar with the sight before him, that he carried that feeling in his own head everywhere he went. 

That was, in fact, the effect Loki had been aiming for, when he had asked to come to Midgard right away. He had hoped to blunt the mortals' wrath, possibly even wring a little (resented, but sorely needed) pity from them. In Stark's case, it seemed it had worked better than he could have hoped. Perhaps he could lean on that recognition in the weeks to come. He would have to be careful; he wasn't at the top of his form and couldn't afford to manipulate too obviously.

"Holy fuck," said Stark.

"My brother said he wished to go to Midgard at once, but perhaps he should spend a few days in the healing room first," Thor said, uneasy.

"Fuck that. We can heal him on Midgard."

Then Thor was picking up the Tesseract in its case and a moment later the three of them were in Stark Tower. The same room where he had once traded barbs with Stark before tossing him out the window. The room where the green berserker had pounded him to a pulp, rendering his planned escape impossible.

Speaking of which, the berserker was there. In his harmless human form at the moment. Staring at him in utter horror, and not because he was threatening to conquer Midgard this time.

Thor gently urged Loki towards a sofa, and when Loki's legs buckled Thor simply lifted him up and carried him.

"I can walk, you oaf," Loki managed to croak.

"That is the least convincing lie you have ever told," Thor retorted. Before Loki could complain further, he had been set down on the sofa. He slumped into it, exhausted. He could not help flinching when Banner moved close to examine him, but forced himself to remain still and let the man look at his eyes, prod the skin of his face. 

Then Banner was issuing orders. Banner, a common mortal who turned into a mindless beast on bad days, giving orders to one of the wealthiest men on Midgard and a prince of Asgard, and they were obeying without question.

"We need to bring his body temperature down. I think a cold bath will work best, Thor, you run it. In your bathroom, then come back to help him walk there because he's too heavy for any of us. Tony, on the top shelf in my room there's a white plastic box with a blue label, bring it. Steve." Loki wasn't sure when the soldier had appeared, but he hopped to follow Banner's directions as well. "Get some ice cubes to dump in the bath, a lot, but first get a couple bottles of Gatorade from the fridge." A legendary hero of Midgard and Rogers was fetching and carrying at Banner's command.

A moment later, the soldier was offering him a plastic bottle of bright red liquid and a look of appalled sympathy. Loki accepted the bottle (his hands shook, annoyingly) and took a dubious sip. It was both sweet and salty, not entirely unpleasant.

"It'll rehydrate you. Drink as much of it as you can stand," the berserker was ordering, thus adding Loki to the list of his betters obeying him. 

Ever since being put in the dungeon, Loki had always been thirsty, allowed only an inadequate daily ration of water. Just enough to keep him alive. He drained the first bottle in one long swallow and reached for the next. This one was yellow and didn't taste as good. He had drunk half of it when Thor showed up again. Loki tried to stand, with Thor's help, but it was no use. What little strength he had had was gone. "You are gravely ill, brother," Thor rebuked him as he lifted him again.

"Oaf." He pressed his lips closed before he could say anything he might regret. He had not endured all he had in the last few years just to jeopardize his position now over a little humiliation.

In the bathing chamber Rogers and Stark set down the items they had been ordered to retrieve. Banner dismissed them and instructed, "Thor, help him out of his clothes."

By the Norns. Perhaps Loki should have forgone the dramatic effect of letting the mortals see the proof of his suffering for themselves in order to be healed without having to be stripped and prodded before lesser beings. Too late now. Loki tried to retrieve some dignity by undressing himself, but his fingers refused to obey him, and after some fumbling Thor took charge, saying, "Let me, brother."

When this was over, he could enchant spiders and snakes to find the Avengers' company irresistible, or some such thing.

A minute later, when he was down to his loincloth and Thor was lowering him into a large tub of blissfully cold water, Loki no longer cared. He almost wept with the relief of it. He sank in, ducking his head underwater for several seconds. He hadn't felt this good in... however long it had been.

When he surfaced, Banner was holding a tiny cloth. "Here, Loki, let me have your arm."

Loki did not resist when Banner rubbed a bit of alcohol on the inside of his left elbow. He was putting all of his energy into keeping such of his composure as he still had. He was shaking and what he really wanted just now was to have a good cry. If it had only been Thor there he would have indulged the urge, but he was not going to weep in front of his former enemies. Banner might be the only one still in the room but Loki knew that Stark's primitive sorcery monitored the entire building. The whole team might be watching him on one of their screens, for all he knew.

"Okay, Loki, I don't know if your people have IVs, but I'm going to have to stick a needle in your arm. It should only hurt for a second." When Loki blinked at Banner, frowning, Banner explained, "It's a saline solution. Salt water. It'll rehydrate you faster. Okay?"

"Bruce is a skilled healer, Loki," Thor assured him. "Midgard's methods are strange, but they are quite effective."

"Go ahead," Loki mumbled, and watched Banner apply the contraption with weary interest. It was actually quite clever, for beings closed off from magic.

The flurry of activity had ceased and now it was just Loki, lying in a tub of cold water and ice, steadily consuming bottle after bottle of the vividly colored beverage provided.

The silence stretched for a long time. "Now we just have to wait," Banner said at last. "Your body will repair itself if we keep giving it the right materials."

Loki felt better, but also exhausted. He let his eyes drift closed.

A voice came out of nowhere. "Sirs, Agents Barton and Romanoff have returned. Captain Rogers is informing them of Loki's status."

Thor made a small movement as if to get up and Loki seized his wrist, even though the movement made the needle jab at him. Thor looked at him, inquiring. Loki ducked his head, but there was nothing for it. He would have to say this in the presence of one of his adversaries, because he was not foolishly brave enough to trust them in his vulnerable state. He needed his one protector close by.

"Stay with me," he said in a low voice, and of course Thor responded with a reassuring hand on his. The big oaf was probably delighted he was finally getting to take care of his little brother again. Idiot.

"I will," Thor promised.

With that assurance, Loki leaned back and let himself drowse in the cold water. He began to form rudimentary plans. Food. A long sleep in a nice cool room. A proper bath. And then more food. A lot more food. The full story of what had been going on while he was in prison. Thanos's head on a plate. 

Odin's head on another.

 

 When Banner deemed him fit to emerge from the bath, Loki felt weary to the bone. He was glad enough to fall into bed alongside Thor, who had kept his promise to stay at Loki's side. Thor's presence was as reassuring as it was irritating. For their entire lives, Loki had known that no one would bother him if his supposed brother was there - except for the brother himself.

They each took a side of the thankfully large bed. Thor's bedroom was cold. Midgardian technology had advanced enough to manipulate temperature, at least. Thor piled blankets onto himself while Loki stretched out under a single thin sheet and prepared to enjoy his first decent night's sleep since... since before Thor's interrupted coronation, come to think of it.

Loki was drifting off when Thor had to go and speak up. "Do you remember when we shared a bed as children, brother?"

"I am not your brother," Loki snapped. "And of course I do. You used to tell me stories about frost giants you heard from the soldiers, even though you knew it gave me nightmares."

Thor took so long to reply that Loki thought he wasn't going to, but eventually he said, "I am sorry I did that, Loki."

Loki was too tired for the tangle of emotions this elicited, so he closed his eyes and sank into sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> G-slash originated the theory that Thanos’s torture of Loki took the form of overheating him in this tumblr post that broke the fandom: http://mosellegreen.tumblr.com/post/151227307969/mykingdomforapen-g-slash-hey-guys-heat
> 
> I researched how to treat heat exhaustion but I’m not a doctor, nurse, or anything else medical. Also, Loki canonically has superhealing powers. In other words, if you have a case of heatstroke on your hands, go to the hospital. Don’t try this at home, kids.
> 
> Grey Bard noticed that I revealed my taste in Gatorade flavors in this fic.
> 
> Movie canon is unclear as to whether Bruce Banner is an MD, but he clearly has some kind of medical expertise, so naturally he's the one who would take charge when someone in Avengers Tower was injured.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony gets some work done, in between interruptions from nightmares, hot frost giants, and irate Directors of SHIELD.

Tony tried to sleep after Loki had been packed off to bed in Thor's room. After the second time nightmares wrenched him out of uneasy sleep - first Afghanistan, then his glimpse through the wormhole when he was delivering the nuke to the Chitauri - he gave up on sleep for the night and went down to his workshop. He was back to building weapons, whether he liked it or not, because nothing Earth had was really effective against Thanos's forces. Only he wasn't selling them now. He was keeping as much control as humanly possible over who used them. Mostly it was the Avengers. Other times the special forces SHIELD had been putting together.

It was the sight of Loki looking like he'd just been through all nine levels of hell that had triggered the nightmares, Tony knew. Not just his physical condition, but the look in his eyes. He'd seen that look in Loki's eyes before, during his invasion. He'd recognized the fear, known he was fleeing from something. Tony'd been there.

He made a detour to the living room on his way to the workshop. Last night Thor had put an ordinary-looking rock down on a table in there. In the fuss of getting Loki squared away, it had been forgotten, but if it was an Asgardian rock, Tony wanted to examine it.

In the workshop, analysis showed that it was an ordinary piece of granite. Ordinary except for very, very low levels of gamma radiation. Which was odd only because there was no reason for a chunk of granite to have any gamma radiation at all. Tony ran every test he could think of on the rock that didn't involve dissolving it or smashing it to bits and ended with no answers, only hypotheses.

With no more avenues to pursue, Tony stuck the rock on the nearest shelf and ordered Jarvis to open up the Skrull anatomy files. SHIELD had tried to go Area 51 with all the dead Skrulls and Chitauri, despite Tony and Bruce both requesting samples for dissection, but there were just too many lying around after each battle for SHIELD to grab them all. Hulk had carried a couple of each back to the Tower at Tony's request and he and Bruce had spent weeks taking them apart. It was so fascinating, actually getting to _dissect aliens_ , that they temporarily forgot why they were doing it and how the aliens had gotten there. Now Tony was trying to design weapons geared specifically to these aliens. If he was very lucky, there might even be some way of killing Skrulls or Chitauri that was harmless to humans. 

Tony spent the next several hours drinking coffee and working on anti-Skrull missiles, oblivious to everything else until Jarvis informed him, "Sir, Loki is awake and requesting his rock. Shall I tell him where it is?"

"Sure, tell him to come on down and collect it. Give him directions. Already on a first name basis with him, I see."

"I began by calling him Mr. Odinson, sir. He stated that a prince's given name is title enough and that he is not Odin's son."

"Sassy for a guy who was at death's door last night."

"Oh, he expressed these sentiments most courteously, sir."

"He was polite to you?"

"Very much so, sir."

Maybe it was dumb, but it really bothered Tony when people were rude to Jarvis. Some of the more pleasant old money types Tony encountered had some idea that _noblesse oblige_ required being polite to their underlings. Oh, if you had enough money or clout for them to consider you an equal, you were fair game and they would steal your industry, your ideas and your girlfriend if they could, but apparently it wasn't cricket to do that to the little people. Maybe princes of Asgard had the same notion. It would make a twisted kind of sense if the alien who'd invaded Manhattan wouldn't stoop to snapping at the help. Save the nastiness for the big things. 

When the door opened, Tony was still up to his elbows in virtual machinery. "How ya doing, Ring Cycle. One dungeon rock, coming up. Just let me finish this."

A minute later he extricated himself, waved all the data away and looked at his visitor. Loki looked a lot better, which wasn't saying much, but Norse gods apparently healed fast. His hair, which now fell well past his shoulders, was damp and his pallid face faintly pink from scrubbing. There were still dark circles under his eyes and his lips were chapped. He'd lost weight in that dungeon, which meant that Thor's clothes hung on him even more loosely than they should have. They hadn't even thought about taking some of his clothes from Asgard, they'd been so intent on getting him out of Daddy Dearest's reach.

"Jarvis, take our guest's measurements and order him some clothes. Black and green, casual and formal. Any special requests, Dasher?"

Loki looked taken aback. "Thank you. That should be adequate." He looked around, probably expecting a tape measure or whatever they used on Asgard to materialize in midair or something.

"The order is placed, sir," Jarvis informed him.

Loki looked bewildered for half a second before asking, "Your, er, invisible servant. He can detect my measurements without any visible apparatus?"

"Sure. There's not much he can't detect. Everything goes down in this building, he knows about it." Tony fetched the rock and ambled in Loki's direction, trying to seem non-threatening. Something in his hindbrain remembered being thrown from the Tower window and was sending alarm signals all through him at the sight of the man who'd done it. Other parts of his brain were unimpressed, remembering the frankly pathetic figure Thor had hauled in the day before. At least one section of his brain was noticing that even chalky-faced and too thin, Loki was _fine_ , all sharp cheekbones and watchful green-blue eyes.

_Yeah, you noticed that right before the defenestration, too,_ he reminded himself.

"You might want to keep that in mind," Tony went on, holding the god's gaze. "If you're planning to turn on us, I mean. We are watching you and we are prepared to take you down again if we have to."

Loki met his eyes calmly. "I had expected nothing else." Tony could almost see the mantle of a long-practiced pose settling over Loki. A pose of elegant unconcern. A graceful shrug, a tiny smile. "And you still have your berserker, should I change my mind." The serene pose didn't quite come off. Loki was still afraid of the Hulk. Probably had the same internal alarms set off by Bruce's presence as Tony had by Loki's.

"If you do, bear in mind: if you manage to harm Bruce, I will make you regret it. That's a promise." Tony spoke quietly, simply.

Loki listened gravely, seemed to consider for a moment. "Your loyalty is commendable, Mr. Stark." The words could have been snarky, but they weren't. They were as serious and quiet as Tony's had been. Loki seemed to be weighing his words before he finally said, "I will not pretend to be overflowing with heroism and honor like my... like Thor. They did not name me god of mischief because I was kind and straightforward. But perhaps time will show that I am also not the monster I seemed to be when last we met."

Tony raised his eyebrows. "So you're a nicer monster than you seemed to be?"

Loki smiled sourly. "Indeed." He held out a long-fingered hand for the rock.

Tony gave it to him; their fingers brushed and Tony forgot what he had been about to say. It had been a long time since he had felt a flash of chemistry like that, that sudden _click_ that meant your chromosomes thought they had just found another set of chromosomes they'd like to mix and match with, never mind such trifling things as ethics, homicidal mania or biological feasibility. Tony hadn't had much time for that kind of amusement in recent years. He divided his time between fighting aliens and building weapons to use on aliens. After Pepper couldn't put up with him anymore - and he couldn't blame her at all, there was a reason she was the only actual relationship he'd ever had - he hadn't had the heart to go on the prowl.

Loki felt the spark too, that was clear in those startled green eyes taking him in. For an eternal second neither of them moved or even breathed.

Tony was about one hair away from doing something very, very stupid - his brain was trying to explain to him just how stupid it would be - when Loki broke their held gaze and stepped away, wrapping his hands around his rock. 

Okay, good. No supervillains trying to worm their way into his trust by way of the bedroom. Tony knew it would have been a bad idea to splay Loki out across one of the counters, seeing if he could bring a flush to that pale creamy skin and conducting scientific experiments to discover where aliens kept their nerve clusters - right, bad idea. Obviously Loki knew it too and was sparing them both the awkwardness.

Conversation. Conversation was good at moments like this.

Tony gestured at the rock. "It's a magical battery, am I right?"

Loki looked faintly surprised. Probably hadn't thought a mere mortal could figure that out. "Yes. You have sensors that can detect magic?"

"Not exactly. The rock has traces of gamma radiation - nothing extraordinary, except that there's no reason for there to be gamma radiation in a chunk of granite. What were you doing, storing it up for your escape?"

"Very astute, for a human."

"Now there's a ringing endorsement. Watch it or people will think I'm paying you. So how much magic do you have in there?"

Loki turned the rock over in his hands. "Not a great deal, really. Enough to make a small explosion, perhaps, or to maintain an illusory doppelganger for half an hour. But it will help my healing a little." He pressed his hands to it, closed his eyes, his dark eyebrows drawing together. His hands glowed golden for a few seconds and as the glow faded, Loki smiled. Smiled with actual pleasure and relief, not with malicious amusement. It was the first genuine smile Tony had ever seen on him, and for a second, Tony thought he was seeing the brother Thor loved so much.

"How long would it have taken you to save up enough magic to escape on?" 

Loki set the rock on the nearest countertop. "Perhaps twenty years. I planned to wait at least thirty to make certain I had enough."

"Damn." Maybe to nigh-immortals it felt different, but even so, thirty years of patient storing of energy in complete misery was a scary thought. "So, did the dungeon have some kind of magic dampener, that it would have taken you that long?"

Loki arched an eyebrow. "Making contingency plans, Stark? No, the heat was the 'dampener'. Using magic requires concentration and energy, and both of mine were constantly depleted. Now and then there would be a brief respite in the temperature - it would lower to the merely uncomfortable, for a short time. At those times, and after I consumed my water ration each day, I would summon what magic I could and store it in that rock."

"Fuck."

"So if you wish to know how to successfully imprison me, Stark, there is your answer. You must inflict enough physical damage upon me to prevent my concentrating well enough to summon my magic. And re-inflict it every few days."

"And not let you have any rocks. Don't suppose you'd just agree to be one of the good guys from now on." Tony took up a bag of dried strawberries and popped one in his mouth.

"I already have agreed. But you can hardly be expected to take my word for it." Stark held the little bag out to him. Loki only hesitated for a second before taking a couple of the strawberry bits. Before putting them in his mouth, he asked, "Stark. Why did you give me that drink? Your shield-brothers urged you to refuse."

Tony shrugged. "I offered." Like he was going to refuse a drink to a guy who'd just taken a Hulk to the everything. Even if the guy did deserve it.

Loki ate the strawberry bits before finally speaking, stiff and formal. "It was the last kindness I was to receive until Thor brought me here." Grimly, he set his jaw and looked Tony in the eye again. "I am indebted to you."

Yep, Tony had called it. Loki was the oldest money in the Nine Realms and figured it behooved him to be polite to the lower orders. "Hey, any time you need a thorn removed from your paw."

Loki's brows knitted in another perplexed frown, but before he could ask what the hell Tony was talking about, Tony found himself huffing a quick, elated laugh.

"So wait, I've got an alien space wizard indebted to me? This is the kind of opportunity every sci-fi geek dreams of."

Loki's frown intensified. "Pardon me?"

"Calling it in right now. I want to know how your magic works. Thor claims that magic and science are the same thing, but he can barely operate a light switch, and I've been studying everything you did since you invaded us and can only speculate. You, Prince Charming, are a gold mine of information."

"I see." Loki accepted another strawberry bit. "I will oblige, but you will not be able to duplicate my feats. Human bodies are not suited to be conduits for magic, that is why so few of you have any, and those few only in small measure."

Tony dismissed that with a wave of his hand. "We don't have wings, either, but we fly. I'll invent a conduit we can use."

Loki's eyebrow quirked. "You are very confident." 

"Not confident, arrogant. It's part of my charm."

"Sir," Jarvis broke in, "the other Avengers are gathering for breakfast. They have suggested that the two of you might wish to join them."

"Right. You'd better go eat your Wheaties, magical Mr. Mistoffeles. I'll be along soon. Hey, don't forget your rock!"

Loki shrugged as he continued to the door. "I have absorbed all of its magic back into myself. I have no more need of it."

"Then you won't mind if I break it into pieces to see if Asgardian molecules work differently from ours?"

Loki looked back at him for a second with a faint smile. "Whatever keeps you amused, Stark."

Tony didn't join the others for breakfast, of course. He got absorbed in his work again, and didn't surface until Jarvis interrupted him to announce that Fury had shown up in a state of high dudgeon. 

Tony wasn't sure what a dudgeon was, but Fury definitely had a high one.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fury, in a state of high dudgeon.

This was exactly the kind of thing Tony didn't need on three hours of sleep and three pots of coffee. Fury standing in Tony's living room with his feet planted apart, glowering so hard it looked like he'd have to regrow his missing eye to let all the glowering out. Thor on the other side of the room, standing in front of his younger brother, brandishing his magic hammer, glowering just as hard with static electricity crackling around him. Tony hoped he wouldn't blow out the tv again. Loki standing still and silent and blank-faced, but with an alertness in his eyes that would scare anyone with any inkling of what he was capable of. Bruce, standing back from it all with the carefully calm expression he got when the Other Guy was trying to come out and play. Clint and Natasha, side by side, ready to act at an instant's notice. Poor Cap standing between the two main antagonists, trying to reason with them both.

Tony's arrival barely registered with any of them. A few shouted sentences made the situation clear enough, not that it had been hard to guess at. Fury wanted Loki locked up in a SHIELD cell, Thor had no intention of letting anyone take his little brother away from him again.

"We are not letting a known war criminal run around-"

"You concealed from me your intention of putting my brother in another dungeon when you sent the Man of Iron as emissary to Asgard! How can he aid in the war to defend Midgard if he is imprisoned?" Thor demanded.

"Fury didn't actually think the question would come up," Tony announced, strolling in. He was as tense as anyone else in the room, but he was good at pretending to be completely relaxed even when he was ready to snap. "Anyone want a drink?"

"I don't think alcohol is the best addition to this situation, Tony." Steve looked earnestly reproachful. Tony couldn't help smiling; Steve was so cute when he got like that. And of course Steve didn't understand that often the business of mixing drinks was more a distraction, something to keep his hands occupied and stall while he found the right angle, than a way of getting booze into people. "Besides, it's nine o'clock in the morning!"

"Is it? You're right, I'd better wait until nine-fifteen. You leave any Pop-Tarts for the rest of us, Mr. Universe?"

Thor ignored this. "Your Director wishes to lock my brother away. He refuses to reveal why he hid these intentions from me when we decided on this course of action."

Tony slouched against the bar, smirking. "Because he didn't think your father would let him out. Why do you think he sent _me?_ He figured I'd get Odin so pissed off that it'd be a hundred years before he even listened to another appeal. He definitely didn't expect us to come back with our very own alien space wizard."

Thor looked outraged as he grasped Fury's design. Before he could express this, Fury yelled, "Your brother brought an _alien invasion_ to our planet! You cannot expect us to just let him waltz in here and let bygones be bygones."

"You know, you're right, Nick," Tony said. Thor gave him a reproachful look that made Tony think he'd been taking lessons from Cap. "We can't have this dangerous guy," Tony gestured at Loki, who at the moment looked more like an anemic poetry major with Goth tendencies than a crazed alien bent on world domination, "roaming Earthgard at will. But of course the god of thunder doesn't want to let his little brother out of his sight, not after what's happened the last three or four times he left him unsupervised." Tony did feel bad for Thor. Go to Earth for less than a week and come back to find out your brother's turned into an evil lunatic frost giant. The next time you see him after that, he's an evil lunatic aspiring world dictator. Every time Thor turned his back, terrible things happened to his beloved brother. "The only solution is for both our demigods to go somewhere else entirely. What's Alfheim like this time of year?"

It was blatant, everyone in the room could see the challenge Tony had just thrown down, but it worked because it was true. Fury spent another hour trying to browbeat Thor into letting him take Loki into SHIELD custody, but what it came down to was that he couldn't lose Thor - _Earth_ couldn't afford to lose Thor, he was too good at fighting alien armies - and Thor and his crazy damaged brother were a package deal, like it or lump it.

Fury wasn't helped by the fact that most of the Avengers were on Thor's side, and none were on Fury's. "Why are you so keen to get your hands on an alien wizard anyway?" That was Bruce, suspicious and narrow-eyed. "You going to make a guinea pig of him? Cut him up and figure out how to make magic weapons?" 

If the expression that flickered on Fury's face for the barest second was anything to go by, Bruce's guess was right. Cap straightened up and gave Fury a "you sit and think about what you did" kind of look. Steve himself had been poked and prodded and blood-sampled within an inch of his life as SHIELD tried to reverse engineer the supersoldier serum. Of course the two team metahumans would see the possibilities in experimenting on a powerful sorcerer.

Clint and Natasha were the only ones who had any trust at all in SHIELD, but they weren't going to oppose the rest of the team. Steve, Tony and Bruce cooperated with SHIELD only because it was a lesser evil than Thanos - and so they could keep an eye on what it was up to. If Thor had trusted SHIELD before today, Fury had just torpedoed that.

"Just what are you planning to do with him, anyway, Fury?" Tony asked after a while. It was after ten a.m. now, Steve couldn't possibly object to him having a martini or three. "You made a cage for the Hulk and our guest here got out of that with no trouble at all." Tony saw Loki's eyes flit to Natasha for a second before returning to him. "What makes you think you can keep him locked up now? Did you get one of those cat-proof fences?"

"Stark is right." Loki's smoky, entirely too sexy voice cut through the room like a laser. "You do not even know the extent of my magic, much less have the ability to keep it in bounds. You cannot build a cell I cannot break out of. I could tell you how I escaped from the cage on your floating fortress, but I have my reasons for keeping silent on the subject."

"Director, I don't like him any more than you do. But the Tower here probably is the best place to keep Loki," Natasha said, her steady voice calming. "We can all keep an eye on him here. And the only people on Earth who have any hope of opposing him if he double-crosses us live in this building."

And that was pretty much that. Fury argued some more to save face, but Tash was right and they all knew it. And really, with the god of thunder and the Hulk opposing him, he didn't have a prayer of taking Loki away and he knew it. Eventually he stormed out after another round of threats, leaving a roomful of emotionally exhausted Avengers.

Loki sank into the nearest chair, but Tony noticed that he was keeping his eyes on Thor - his one real protector. Thor fumed even as he turned to cup the side of Loki's neck with one hand, that favorite affectionate gesture of his (once he had done that to Tony while he was wearing the suit, that had been kind of weird), and Tony thought he could see some of the tension leave Loki's shoulders at the touch.

Bruce looked around at all of them and then spoke in his usual quiet way. "I think maybe we can leave the debriefing till tomorrow. And Tony, you need some sleep."

"Sleep? Never touch the stuff." 

The Norse gods were heading for Thor's room, Loki looking like he was about to drop. Bruce retreated to his own room, and before the door shut Tony could hear the beginning of the dreamy music Bruce played when he meditated. Tony went to his bedroom and curled up with another martini. He didn't expect to sleep, but he decided to close his eyes for just one minute before getting up to mix his next drink and didn't open them until ten hours later.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What Loki wants.

Loki let his not-brother herd him back into their room without a complaint. He was still weak - well, he had spent the better part of four years being slowly roasted, twelve hours wasn't enough to recover from that, even for a god. His head buzzed with questions about everything that had happened since he had been locked up, but he was too tired to ask them, let alone pay proper attention to the answers. He barely had the energy to resent his dependence on his oaf of a brother - foster brother. Thor had always been damned inconvenient. If only Loki had been able to just hate him, everything would have been so simple. But it was impossible to hate Thor. So joyful, so radiant, so generous and protective when it happened to penetrate his thick skull that these qualities were called for.

Loki would balance the ledger between them, good and ill.

Dealing with Romanoff again had been a genuine pleasure. She was a spy, a professional liar like himself. They spoke the same language.

He had been looking forward to meeting her from the moment Barton had told him about her. She had not disappointed. When he had said, "After whatever tortures Fury could concoct, you would appear as a friend, as a balm. And I would cooperate," she had understood that he meant, _Appear as a friend and I_ _ **will**_ _cooperate._ And the dance had begun. 

Loki had underestimated the humans in one way. He had never dreamed they could build a cell that could keep him in, but they had. Another thing for which he could thank the green berserker. Probably when his minions had stormed the floating fortress they would have been able to free him - if the humans had not dropped the cage when they realized help was coming for him. It was not a risk Loki had cared to take. And so when Romanoff had shown up ready to bargain, he had accepted her terms. " _And what will you do if I vow to spare him?"_ he had asked. _"Not let you out,"_ she had said at once, and he had understood: she meant the precise opposite of what she said. He had probed a bit more, looking for her motives: _"Your world in the balance, and you bargain for one man?"_ And she had told him where her loyalties lay: with the man who had spared her life, not with any nation or organization. _"Regimes fall every day. I tend not to weep over that, I'm Russian. Or I was."_

Carefully out of the sight of the surveillance cameras - mortals were quite ingenious at making up for not having a Heimdall, but their measures were easier to evade - Romanoff had allowed him to see the control device in her hand for half a second, had pressed the buttons. Loki had taken the cue to unleash a proper villain rant, saying all of the things that might have been expected to get under her skin had she been a more ordinary woman. Reminding her of her crimes, of the ruthlessness of the universe, of the futility of atonement. At the height of his ravings, he had struck the glass door with his fist, and with gratification had felt it move the tiniest bit. It was unlocked, he would be able to open it when he judged the moment right. 

Having confirmed that, he kept his side of the deal. The means, that was all either of them had given the other. Both of them were on their own to seize their prizes. She had unlocked the door of his cage; securing his own freedom was up to him. He told her how to break his hold on Barton. " _And then he'll wake just long enough to see his good work. And when he screams, I'll split his skull. This is my bargain, you mewling quim!"_

She had understood that "splitting Barton's skull" - hitting him in the head, hard - would make him "wake"... and that this information was Loki's bargain. She had done a brilliant job of acting appalled by him. That was when he had made his one misstep: jubilant with the success of the deal he had just made, he had let that one little comment slip out. " _Oh no. You brought the monster."_

It wasn't much, not really, but she had made the connection. " _So, Banner? That's your play?"_

 _"What?"_ he had responded, then mentally kicked himself. He should have known that even the most indirect reference to his strategy would give it away to someone as sharp as Romanoff. Loki Silvertongue, played by a mortal barely out of girlhood. Humiliating.

In the end, of course, his scheme had unfurled just as he had planned anyway. If anything, his error had actually worked in his favor. The humans might have been suspicious had she returned to them empty-handed. And having them all hovering around, looking at Banner like he was a dangerous animal who needed to be penned up, had made Banner angry enough to lose control even more quickly than Loki had hoped. And in the ensuing chaos, Loki had made his escape. Even gotten the better of his big brother while he was at it.

And today, he had reminded her of all of that, and she had stood against Fury for him. Even more useful than the act itself, it had told Loki something valuable. Romanoff did not want her comrades to know what she had done. Probably Barton knew already; he knew her ruthless nature, and was just as loyal to her as she was to him. But if the other Avengers found out, they would never trust her again. He had her on his side, so long as he did not push her too far - but that was an amateur's mistake, one he had not made in centuries.

"Do you think you can eat something?" Thor asked softly, breaking into Loki's racing thoughts. It was almost laughable, Thor trying to be gentle. Loki's stomach rebelled at the thought of food. It was going to be milk and mush for some time, he glumly supposed.

"Maybe after I sleep some more. You get something for yourself, I doubt Fury will snatch me away if you leave the room for a few minutes."

"I will not let him harm you, brother," Thor said, in that tone of complete assurance that induced people to follow him into hostile enemy territory with only five other warriors. Loki did not trouble to hide his smile, knowing that Thor would not see the amusement in it.

"I know you won't. Even though I am not your brother." Loki closed his eyes, not to see the hurt on his not-brother's face. Of course Thor did not yet understand why they could not keep up that lie, and this was not the moment to put it into sufficiently small words for him. "Now let me sleep."

It was a while before he was able to sleep, however, despite his fatigue. There were too many factors he had to balance, if he was to remain alive and free, let alone get his revenge. Fury's threats today had actually been very useful; the argument had allowed Loki to further evaluate his new allies. 

Apparently at some point since Asgard's last visits to Midgard, humans had decided that torture was dishonorable. A view which Loki, having now experienced it, could wholeheartedly embrace, but not one he had expected many others to ever share with him. Some of the things he had seen humans do to each other, on past visits, and now they were acting as if such terrible things could never even occur to them.

It made Loki actually sorry he had had to invade them.

Barton hated Loki. He had every reason. If opportunity presented, Loki could perhaps win a bit of forgiveness. If not, well, he knew Barton. The man was a pragmatist. If he had to work with Loki to protect his realm, he would grit his teeth and do it.

When the Avengers had deduced that Fury had hoped to use Loki to figure out how to make magical weapons, they had been as indignant as if it were the world's first lie. Such innocence - it was like dealing with half a dozen Thors at once. Why did the idea upset them so much? Loki would have to think about it more when he was less weary. Perhaps he could ask some leading questions - maybe when he kept his promise to Stark to satisfy his curiosity about magic.

Stark.

Loki shifted uncomfortably between the sheets. It had been years since he had the luxury of feeling desire. That moment, when their hands had touched, had felt like coming back to life. At that moment, Loki would have cheerfully endangered all his plans in favor of bending that devastatingly handsome, stunningly brilliant human over the nearest table.

The alarm in Stark's eyes that mingled with the arousal, and then the relief when Loki had gotten a grip on himself and stepped away, was proof that resisting had been the wise move. Stark might be sympathetic to a fellow torture victim, he might understand what it was to have blood on one's hands and try to wash it off, but Loki had only made the barest beginning of washing his. He was still well outside Stark's range of acceptability. Had he acted on that sudden flare of attraction between them, the result would have been a Stark torn by conflict. And if the man were conflicted, the Norns alone knew what he might do.

Stark was a powerful influence in the Avengers team. He was strong enough to stand up to Fury. He had apparently persuaded Odin himself to release Loki from torture - something even Thor had not been able to do.

Dragging sex, attachment, and jealousy into their interactions would be deeply unwise.

There were many things Loki wanted. Reconciliation with Thor - and even though Thor did not yet understand this, acknowledging that they were not brothers was an essential part of this. Safety from both Thanos and Odin. _Revenge._ He was not going to jeopardize all that for a few moments of fleeting pleasure.

The Avengers had served him once before, stopping Thanos's invasion with his help and securing him temporary escape from that fiend. Now they would serve him again. And this time as before, they would believe they were serving only themselves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The theory about Natasha's bargain with Loki is from Andartha, who dramatized it in [her own excellent fic](http://archiveofourown.org/works/515008/chapters/908859).


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers attempt to debrief Loki.

The Avengers tried again to debrief Loki the following morning. Tony considered it unfair that Loki could look like a vampire had been feeding on him nightly for the past six months and still be that hot. Clothes that fit helped; they had been delivered the previous afternoon. Loki draped himself over the couch like a Victorian damsel awaiting smelling salts, Thor hovering protectively nearby, and sucked down Gatorade and vitamin shakes without ceasing. "You'll have to tell me what's been going on while I was in the oven." 

"How much do you know?" Steve asked.

"When Thor came for me the other day, he said I have to help you fight Thanos as a condition of my release. From this I assume that he has been attacking. That is all I know."

"That's _all?_ " 

"I was in a dungeon. It isn't as if I had television. Shortly after I was locked up, Thor and Mother visited me. That was the last time I saw anyone besides prison guards until two days ago."

Tony found himself exchanging glances with the other Avengers. "You didn't tell us he was being kept incommunicado," Natasha said to Thor.

Thor looked surprised. "I told you he was in prison. Only his rank and mine allowed the visit I made early on."

"If you get to be king in our lifetimes, maybe we could have a chat about prison reform," Clint muttered.

The demigods looked at each other for the briefest of instants before Loki spoke again. "What kind of attacks has Thanos been launching?" 

Tony let his mind wander while Steve summarized the past three years. They'd thought it was over, back when Natasha had closed the first portal and Thor had hauled his bratty little brother back to where they'd come from, along with the cube said little brother had used to let the Chitauri in. Only then it had turned out the little brother had been working for a bigger bad guy, who was now working on non-Tesseract methods of portal opening. 

Every few weeks Thanos ripped open a new hole in the sky and a bunch of Chitauri or Skrulls would pour through, and the Avengers would battle them alongside the local military until they figured out how to close this particular portal. Then Tony would go back to his lab with Bruce and try to figure out how the fucking portals worked and how to stop them from opening in the first place.

Or how to build a weapon that could kill the bastard who was opening them.

Tony usually managed to lob something nasty through the portals before closing them. A nuke, some noxious gases, some Agent Orange. Sooner or later something would have to actually make a dent, right?

Unfortunately, he was getting the feeling that all he was doing was giving Thanos more information about their weapons.

Tony realized he was grinding his teeth. He'd been doing that a lot lately. Knowing your planet was likely to be annihilated sometime soon would do that.

Angry voices jolted Tony out of his thoughts. Great. Now Tony had a couple of pagan gods yelling at each other in his living room. Just a few years ago his mornings had involved Pepper shooing the previous night's hottie out of the mansion while he played down in his workshop, or Rhodey trying to corral him to come impress some generals. How had it all gone so wrong?

"You stabbed me!" Thor accused, glaring at his brother, who glared right back. "You trapped me in your glass cage and dropped me 30,000 feet!"

Loki did not seem even slightly intimidated by having an enormous hammer-wielding mass of rippling muscles shouting at him. He looked more exasperated than anything else. Then again, he must have centuries of experience in handling a pissed-off Thor. "I stabbed you with a fruit knife that wouldn't have damaged a human, let alone you! And I wouldn't have dropped you at all if you hadn't shown that your hammer could break you out of there."

Tony decided this was going nowhere good. "Okay, mighty ones, can we do the family therapy thing later? Thor brought you back here to get you away from the torture, that should count for something. Let's-"

Loki glowered at him. "He's the one who dragged me back there for the torture to begin with. And you humans let him. Much nobler than trying me yourselves and locking me up or at least granting me a mercifully swift execution."

Steve spread his hands. "We never thought-"

"You sent me back there to be judged by a megalomaniacal tyrant! By the false father who abducted me as an infant to use for his political schemes! Who punished me, not for invading your realm, but for destroying my own usefulness to him."

Tony folded his arms. "And we would know this about Odin how?" 

"I never dreamed Father would do that to his son," Thor protested. 

Loki smiled coldly at him. "I am certain he would not. But I am _not_ his son."

Steve was standing up now, looking thoroughly irate. "Give him a break. He's been trying to get you out of there for three years."

Loki's head swiveled to look at Thor. "You have?"

"Of course I have!"

"He's been telling us about it whenever he was here to fight with us," Steve confirmed. "We were pretty worried about him the last time he went back to Asgard to ask the king to relent and then we didn't see him again for four months."

Loki looked back to Thor warily. "What happened?"

The Avengers looked at each other. "You didn't tell him?" Steve asked Thor.

"There wasn't time. The other day I just wanted to get him out of there, and then Bruce was treating him, and then we were dealing with Fury."

Loki was sitting up straight now. "Tell me what?" Apprehension filled his eyes.

"He didn't tell us he was going to do it or we would have offered to help him," Tony began.

"I could not tell you, my friends, Heimdall sees and hears everything."

"I've known how to shield myself from Heimdall for centuries," Loki said, impatient. "I am shielding myself from him now and have no plans to stop; if your father wishes to know what I am doing he can come here and see for himself. Now tell me. What idiot thing did you do?"

"I tried to break you out of prison," Thor said quietly.

Loki stared. Tony didn't think he had ever seen Loki more off guard.

"I was caught before I got anywhere near your cell, and Father stripped me of my powers - again - and banished me to Jotunheim for three months."

Tony wouldn't have thought it was possible for Loki to get any paler, but he did. Loki stared at Thor, his eyes wide and luminous. "Without your powers? How did you-" His voice cracked and he stopped, and then his face just crumpled like a little boy's. When Thor came to sit beside him, he didn't even put up a token resistance to one of Thor's rib-crushing bear hugs.

This wasn't a moment for public consumption. The humans all stood up and moved toward the door, silent and embarrassed, leaving the brothers alone.

"Either that was for real or he deserves an Oscar," Bruce said after they'd sat in the kitchen for a while.

"Even if he loves his big brother," Natasha said, "that doesn't mean that we can trust him."

"No further than we can throw him," Tony agreed. "Without the suit."

They dispersed after a little while. Tony retreated to his workshop until Jarvis informed him that the brothers had emerged from the common room. "Thor is in the kitchen seeking food, and Loki is in Thor's room."

Tony left what he was working on - it hadn't been going well anyway. Loki was a distraction, whether he was arriving looking like something the cat wouldn't drag in, pissing off Fury or Thor, or just being sexy. 

By the time Tony reached the kitchen Steve had gravitated there too. Thor closed the refrigerator and turned to them, eyes red but looking more peaceful than Tony recalled ever seeing him. "I know not of you, my friends, but I am famished. Perhaps we could resume the debriefing later."

"Sounds good. I'll have Jarvis order a batch of pizzas. Any idea what toppings your little brother would like?"

That got the ghost of a smile from Thor. "I do not believe he has ever had pizza."

"I'll order enough different kinds that there'll be something he'll like. Where is he?"

"In our room."

"Jarvis, make our usual pizza order, but add - Thor, does he eat anything like as much as you do?"

Thor managed a grin at that. "Almost."

"Jarvis, add half again to our usual order, an assortment." Tony got a couple of beers out of the fridge and handed one to Thor. "I take it you two kissed and made up?"

"It is not the custom on Asgard for brothers to kiss once they have left childhood," Thor answered seriously, "but we are much reconciled. We have forgiven each other much, and... the only flaw is that he still denies that we are brothers."

"Give him time," Steve advised.

Loki did not appear until the pizzas arrived, and he had the sort of washed-out look that follows a good cry. He sat next to Thor and ate silently while the rest of the Avengers tried to maintain innocuous conversation about movies and rock music. Loki seemed to like the olive pizza, but it was when he discovered the pizza with pesto sauce that he really dug in and ate an entire one by himself. Then he slipped away, and when Thor announced his intention of fetching him Jarvis informed them that Loki had gone to sleep.

"Know what?" Tony said, taking one last slice of pepperoni and heading for the door. "Let's try again tomorrow."

"At this rate it'll be months before we manage to get him debriefed," Clint muttered.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki's debriefing continues.

The next day the humans wanted to hear Loki's side of the story. Considering Loki's famed sobriquets - Liesmith and Silvertongue - it seemed rather hubristic of them. Not that he wasn't going to take every advantage. He wasn't even going to tell them any lies.

"I'll start with my suicide attempt, if it's all the same to you," he began. "I assume Thor told you about what led up to that." He had no intention of reliving the worst few days of his life in front of these mortals. His simple scheme, to protect Asgard from a king who was far from ready to rule - and his brother from a failure he would never live down - had spiraled far out of control. Odin had indulged Thor's recklessness for years because it had been useful to him - not, as Loki had always imagined, because he was a doting father. Then for the first time Odin had been inconvenienced by that recklessness, and in the savagery of his reaction Thor had learned how very conditional his father's love was. Loki had been no less shaken by the revelation; if Odin were capable of such harshness to the son he loved - to his _actual_ son - what might he do to Loki?

And then there had been the frantic days of his mad and doomed scheme to win his adoptive father's favor, to prove that he was the son of Odin, not a foundling monster from an enemy realm.

How Thor was able to forgive him for it all was a mystery to Loki, but one for which he was grateful. And Thor would be rewarded. But before Loki could arrange that, he had to manage the humans.

At the nods from the Avengers, Loki began. "So you all know that, having learned once and for all that my adoptive father's regard was unattainable," the odds were that at least some of the Avengers were angry at their own fathers, playing on that just a bit would not go amiss, "I allowed myself to fall into the Void. I assumed the Void would kill me. I was to wish that it had.

"I cannot say for how long I fell, but somehow Thanos sensed me. Retrieved me." Loki's voice wavered a bit and he paused to steel himself. He was not going to show further weakness in front of these Midgardians. Except, of course, to calculated effect. "He found that I was a sorcerer of Asgard. He also knew that the Tesseract was an Asgardian relic and that it had recently been found here on Midgard. He had wanted to claim it, and now he had a sorcerer knowledgeable about the right sort of magic, someone who could wield it for him."

"So you agreed to fetch it for him." Barton's tone was flat, accusing. Loki met his gaze as steadily as he could.

"He was very persuasive."

"Torture." That was Stark. Loki studied him. Stark was trying to keep his expression blank, but in his eyes, in the set of his jaw, Loki saw the same horror that had been in his face when Loki was first hauled out of the dungeon.

Rogers was the one to ask, gently, "Would you mind telling us what they did to you?"

Loki was certain they already knew, but he answered anyway. "The same thing my - Odin did. Heat. Mainly, that is. When they thought I needed a reminder, the Other would simply give me a telepathically induced flash of pain. But mostly they kept me hot, as hot as I could be without dying. For months, with only brief respites." Loki found that his body had gone rigid as he spoke, and that one of his hands had snaked up to the side of his neck. He forced himself to ease his posture, putting both of his hands in his lap until he could regain control.

"That doesn't sound so bad," Stark said, and Loki's head snapped up. He knew that he could not conceal the fury in his expression. Before he could retort, Stark had gone on. "So we tried it. We all piled into my sauna and turned it up as far as Bruce said was safe. Well, except for Bruce. Being hot tends to make people angry, so he stayed outside to monitor us."

Loki did not trust his voice, so he let his eyes flit among them, asking the question for him.

"We stayed in there for four hours. It was...." Stark trailed off, searching for words.

"Horrible. We could understand why you were willing to accept the mission he forced on you," Romanoff said.

"Not that we're ready to forgive and forget," Barton said, with a small glare.

"I would hardly ask so much," Loki replied.

"And we reviewed the security footage of your arrival." Loki tried not to tense; it was Banner. "Your symptoms on your arrival were consistent with heat exhaustion. Headache, pallor, circles under the eyes, sweating, nausea, dizziness, disorientation, muscle cramps. It must've been especially unpleasant for you."

The last word had a slight emphasis. "What do you mean?" Loki asked, careful to give nothing away.

Banner made a vague gesture. "Well. Heat torture's bad enough for us, but for a frost giant, it must be...." His voice trailed off at Loki's incredulous expression.

Loki turned to glare at Thor, accusing. Was it not bad enough that his own family - which was not even his family - knew what he was, Thor had to tell all his mortal pets as well? A horrifying thought occurred to Loki. Did all Asgard now know? If so, he was even more bereft of his former home than he had thought. For a second Loki imagined how Thor's brainless warrior friends must have reacted and shriveled inside. Regardless of what Thor had done for him - and it was a great deal - this humiliation would require retribution.

"Please, brother," Thor was pleading, "I had to explain to them why the torture was so horrific that you were willing to wreak so much destruction on their realm to escape it. Why it was enough that they should allow you to fight beside us, when you returned."

The humans were all studying him now, more curious than repulsed. There had been time for them to get used to the idea, Loki supposed. He could throttle Thor for risking everything, for both of them, by telling his pet humans Loki's darkest secret.

"Thor was very careful about how he broke it to us." Stark, again. With something in his eyes that looked almost like sympathy. Which proved that Loki didn't know how to read this one yet, after all. "He spent a lot of time first telling us how close the two of you always were, how you always had his back in battle, how many times your magic saved his life."

Loki looked at Thor again, this time in surprise. Thor had actually admitted that his little brother's tricks had saved his muscular blond posterior? The oaf did feel guilty for dismissing Loki's gifts for all those years. Loki tried to calculate how he could use this as leverage against Thor, but found that all his attention was being taken up by a dismayingly strong swell of sentimentality. Damned sentiment, always showing up at the most inconvenient times.

"You know," Stark was continuing, "trying to make us see you as something besides a psychotic alien conqueror."

"I was a psychotic alien conqueror."

"Yeah, but you're also Thor's little brother."

Stark was going to say more, but Loki could not let that pass. "Thor and I are not brothers." The words were ashes in his mouth.

Thor's large hand fell heavily on Loki's neck. He tried to turn Loki to face him, but Loki resisted and Thor did not force the matter. "Loki, you will always be my brother."

There was no need for Loki to feign the misery he felt as he mutely shook his head. Even for the god of lies, there were times when the truth had to be insisted upon.

Stark cut in before they could argue further. "After a lot of buildup where he told us what a swell bro you were, Thor told us nine or ten times that until he was banished to Earth a few years back, neither of you knew that you were adopted. And then he broke it to us, very gently, that you were a frost giant."

He hated Stark. When this was over he would tear the man into tiny pieces and scatter them all over Midgard. As if he had not suffered enough already for his birth, now Stark was forcing him to endure the humiliation of hearing how the mortals who had defeated him had learned of it.

"I gotta say, you could've heard a pin drop after he said that." Stark surveyed his teammates, who were looking mildly exasperated by now. "We all took a minute to mull it over. Until finally Clint said what we were all thinking."

Loki was going to kill them. Every one of them. Slowly.

Barton cut off whatever Stark was going to say next. "My exact words were, and I quote, 'What the fuck is a frost giant?'"

Loki stared at him.

Banner took up the thread. "We'd never even heard of them."

Loki glanced around at the humans. "What?"

"Later we all read up on Norse mythology, but there really isn't much about you guys even there. Most of what we ever knew about frost giants is lost to history." Banner paused. "We had no idea what a frost giant even was."

Loki tried to regain some composure. "How did your parents get you to eat your vegetables?"

Banner actually chuckled at that. "Thor explained about the war between Asgard and Jotunheim hundreds of years ago, and how your father raised you on stories of how many of them he killed, all the stories about how frost giants are monsters that eat people, how you two had nightmares about them when you were children."

"No offense," Barton said, "but your dad's a dick."

Loki's eyes darted to Thor, who looked pained but said nothing.

"He is not my father, and I am certainly not offended, but why do you say that?"

"Dude. Raising a baby frost giant on stories of how he gloriously mowed down a bunch of your kind like Sly Stallone with an Uzi, and scaring you into having nightmares about your own species? Teaching you that you were a monster? Of course you acted like a monster when you found out. Not that I'm letting you off the hook." Barton glared at him. "I still hate your guts. I just see that you had help turning into what you are."

Loki knotted his fingers together. All was not lost despite Thor's indiscretion. He had to choose the right words now. 

"I do not ask you to 'let me off the hook', as you put it. I am merely offering my help in stopping Thanos before he kills everyone in your realm - in all the realms."

"Let's hear the rest of your story," Romanoff said. "After Thanos decided to use you to get the cube."

Loki drew a breath, refocusing his mind on the task at hand. "Having been given the mission to seize the Tesseract and promised Earth in return, I planned the most effective way of achieving this. The first step was to make a suitable entrance. I would enchant my sceptre to appear harmless, or perhaps to be invisible. When I first entered this realm, I would look to the gathered humans with an expression of distress and plead with them to give me sanctuary. I would submit to being taken into custody and cooperate in every way - until I was in a room with as few observers as possible, being interrogated by Director Fury, whereupon I would enthrall him and any others present with my sceptre and walk out of the installation with him and the Tesseract, without a drop of blood being shed.

"In my thrall, Fury would have told me of the team he hoped to assemble. I would have moved quickly, before anyone realized that Fury had been - what was your word? - compromised. If none of the potential Avengers were warned and assembled, killing each of you, individually, would be simple. None of you were expecting an alien sorcerer. Most of you I could have simply stabbed to death as you slept. Even Stark's security at the time would not have impeded me in the slightest. Dr. Banner might have been more of a challenge, but transporting him to some faraway realm - Jotunheim, perhaps - would have been a simple enough matter. 

"Thor would have been my only real challenge. Had Odin sent him to fetch me later, once my intentions were clear, defeating him would have been exceedingly difficult. Not impossible, though it would have required the deaths of many of my new subjects. So the best course would have been to cease the magics with which I shielded myself from Heimdall and let him see me with the Tesseract. Odin would not have sent his son just to fetch me, but to also fetch his lost bauble, that he would do. At this point, there would still be no known human blood on my hands. I would have welcomed my estranged foster brother, wept on his shoulder, and embraced him - and slipped a dagger between his ribs as I did so. Or invited him to celebrate our reunion by sharing a cup of mead, into which I would drop magical poison. Or simply waited for an unguarded instant and pressed his heart with my sceptre and had the crown prince of Asgard in my thrall." Loki could not resist giving Thor an impish smile at that, and Thor responded with a familiar look of long-suffering big-brotherly tolerance.

"After that, I would have fetched the esteemed scientist Dr. Schäfer from his bed in the dead of night, probably using my sceptre on him to ensure his cooperation. His retinas - still in his head and undamaged - would have gotten us our iridium. No one would have realized anything was amiss for days.

"With the help of Dr. Selvig we would have opened the portal at the North Pole. There is so much atmospheric interference there that our activities would likely have been undetectable, and if they were noticed, humans would have great difficulty effectively hampering us in that inhospitable climate. 

"With my army of Chitauri hovering in the skies, I would then have headed for - well, there are two appealing choices. One would be to send half my army to Washington and the other half to Beijing, those being the capitals of the two most militarily prepared nations in Midgard. Another possibility would have been to time my arrival in Midgard to occur shortly before a UN summit or some similar gathering of as many world leaders as possible, and attack wherever they were. I do understand that human governments have established lines of succession, but such an attack would have made the properly dramatic impression. After that, a few million human deaths, a show of overwhelming military superiority, a few hundred key people enthralled by my sceptre, and then a show of goodwill to the survivors as recommended by Machiavelli, and the Earth would be mine."

The Avengers considered this in silence for a while. At length Barton said, "That's nothing at all like what you did."

Loki looked at him. "And therefore?"

Stark slapped the table. "I told you guys."

"It's been Tony's pet theory for a while," Rogers said. "That you sabotaged your own invasion in order to foil the alien who tried to control you. That you wanted us to stop you. We weren't... entirely sold on the idea."

"I take back what I said," Stark told Loki. "It was a great plan."

"Which ended with me being crushed by your berserker and then taken to a torture chamber in Asgard."

"Right." Rogers straightened up, almost at attention. "We might as well address that. We don't believe in torture here anymore. There are some things that are just out of the question. You've shown that we can't imprison you. We're not about to send you back to Asgard, now that we know. If you betray us, we will have no choice but to execute you. I'm hoping it won't come to that, but we'll do it if we have to."

As if Loki would stay around to let them. Assuming he hadn't been smashed recently, of course. But Loki listened to the soldier gravely. The humans needed reassurance, and the fact was, this time his intentions towards them were entirely benign.

"Your warnings are unnecessary, Captain," he said after a long moment. "We have the same objective now. Which leads us to the question: how can I help you to defend your realm?"


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that they have a slowly recovering frost giant god of mischief on Midgard, what do they do with him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in updating. There were a few plot points I had to work out. Updates won't be daily like they were at first, but they should be pretty frequent unless the RL monster attacks.

The others might have been relieved that Loki did not argue when asked to leave them to debate his immediate destiny. It only made Tony suspicious. He had expected Loki to try to silver-tongue them into... something or other, he wasn't even sure what. What the hell did Loki want, aside from out of the hotbox?

They were going to have to figure that out.

Pondering whether Loki was giving in gracefully because he knew it wasn't a fight he could win or if he was just planning to change their minds later distracted Tony for the first several minutes of the discussion. When he tuned back in, the Avengers were discussing whether they actually wanted anything more dangerous than a teaspoon in Loki's hands.

Tony let the others thrash it out for a while. Clint and Tasha were dead set against letting Loki have any access to weapons. Steve was inclined to agree with them. Thor couldn't help trusting the brother who'd watched his back for hundreds of years before trying to stick a knife in it.

Listening to the others, Tony kept remembering Loki's hands glowing around that rock. He kept remembering that he himself had built the first Iron Man suit in a cave from scraps, under the eyes of people ready to kill him. His teammates might not realize it, but they had made the gamble of trusting Loki the minute they got him out of that cell. If he was going to screw them, he would find a way whether they gave him weapons or not. Loki _was_ a weapon. Thor had told them how much magic Loki could do without any glowing blue gizmos. Given everything they knew about Loki - trickster, Liesmith, god of mischief - Tony would bet anything he had hidden the full extent of his magic for his entire life.

Looking at Clint, whose expression had been vaguely queasy ever since they had decided to bring Loki back from Asgard, Tony decided to keep his mouth shut. The team was twitchy enough already.

"Tony, you're not usually this quiet," Steve said to him when there was a (very fleeting) lull in the argument. "I know you have an opinion."

Tony took a few seconds to choose which of his thoughts to share. "I think that either he'll play ball with us and he and Thor will be BFFs again and it'll all be great, or he'll turn on us and we'll kick his ass again. There's no hedging our bets now." He looked at Bruce. "We haven't heard from Mean Joe Green either."

Something in Bruce's steady gaze made Tony think he was having thoughts similar to Tony's, but all he said was, "It'll be a few weeks before he's fit for combat in any case. Maybe we should be thinking about what to do with him while we're in the field before that."

That set off another round of lengthy debate. They didn't want to leave Loki in the Tower alone while they were in battle; SHIELD might try to snatch him away, or he might get up to something. They couldn't leave any Avenger in the Tower to babysit him; they were all needed in the field. Taking him along, even if they planned to keep him on the sidelines, would mean arming him; not doing so with Chitauri or Skrulls around would be practically murder. And that brought them back to square one: did they trust him enough to let him have a weapon?

It was Steve who came up with the suggestion of having Loki watch the surveillance footage as they fought and spearhead the "radio" communications - no matter how many times Tony explained satellites to Steve, he persisted in calling the system the "radio". Besides being useful, it would mean that if SHIELD attempted to seize Loki, they would all hear them doing it right away. Thor was very much in favor of the idea.

"In Asgard, when Loki and I fought with Sif and the Warriors Three, Loki's position was in the rearguard." Thor quickly made a diagram on the whiteboard to demonstrate: himself front and center, Fandral beside him, Sif and Hogun at his flanks, and Loki and Volstagg bringing up the rear. "We all trusted Loki and Volstagg to have our backs. Sif was too headstrong for that position, she would have charged ahead. Fandral might have as well. Volstagg had to be in the rear in any case, he was slower than the rest of us. But Loki was there, not only because battle does not go to his head as it does to Sif's or Fandral's or mine, but because the position gave us all the benefit of his tactical skill. He was able to spot sneak attacks and divine the enemy's strategy and alert us to these things." Thor smiled at his diagram, proud and fond, and Tony thought it was a shame Loki wasn't there to see it. 

"There's something else I don't think you noticed about that formation," Tony remarked. When Thor turned to him, raising his eyebrows, Tony went on, "Loki's position is the most protected one."

Thor looked back to the diagram, surprised. "You are right, I hadn't noticed. But if you had a younger brother, you would understand: you never stop feeling that you should protect him."

"Not even when he's all grown up and leading alien invasions," Tony agreed.

They dispersed and Thor went in search of Loki to inform him of his new task. Shortly after, Loki appeared in the ops room to receive instruction from Tony on how to operate the surveillance and commlink systems. "Jarvis can actually do most of the work for you," Tony explained as they came to stand in front of the displays. "He'll find all the video feeds in the area where we're fighting, route your messages as needed, all that. Thor told us you were good at spotting your opponents' tactics, figuring out their strategies."

"Did he."

"He's put a lot of effort into convincing us that you're not such a bad guy when you're not sending giant mechas to kill him or destroying the Planet of the Giant Smurfs."

Loki shook his head, rueful. "All that I've done and still he is trying to look after me. I really wonder if he should be let out of the house alone."

"He's loyal. And cuddly. The guy's basically a cocker spaniel on two feet." Tony shrugged, picking up the nearest Starkpad, but he was watching Loki's expression carefully. Not that it was a hardship, watching the flickering in those green eyes, the grace of even his smallest movement, the set of those broad shoulders - next to Thor Loki seemed slim and willowy, but without the god of thunder in the room you realized what a big guy Loki actually was. 

"I always envied the ease with which he wins the love of all around him," Loki admitted, one corner of his well-formed mouth twisting, "but I understand why they do. It works on me too."

Tony's hands were poised over the Starkpad, about to fling all the data into the air, but he stopped, looking at Loki. "So... you really do love Thor? In spite of the things you did to him?"

A mirthless chuckle. "You're an only child."

"Yeah, so?"

"So, you don't understand how it is with brothers. Loving them and hating them are not mutually exclusive."

Tony put the Starkpad down and leaned over the table, trying to pin Loki with his gaze. "Okay then, Loke - you don't mind if I call you Loke, do you?"

"Not at all, Anthony."

"So, Loki. What is it you want, now that you're out of jail?"

Abruptly Loki's face was blank. Tony didn't think he'd been expecting the question.

"C'mon, it's not that complicated. You'd never be without a plan. What are you after? You want to be king again?"

At that Loki sighed in irritation. "Tell me, Stark. Do you wish to be President of America?"

"Fuck, no."

"Whyever not?"

"Because it would be a huge pain in the ass. There'd be long boring meetings every day, I'd have to spend a ton of time managing the people around me and sidestepping their efforts to manage _me_ , I wouldn't have my current option of just telling them to kiss my ass and go fuck themselves sideways, every tiny thing I did would be scrutinized even more than it is now...." His voice trailed off. "Okay, I see your point. I guess I assumed it was easier for kings."

"No, it's the same but with grander clothes. I have seen up close what it is like to be king since my infancy, and only a fool could want it. I always counted myself very lucky to have a brother who _was_ a fool."

"You're still dodging the question. What do you want?"

Loki went very still, looking him in the eye. "I want to stop Thanos."

"So do we all. What else?"

Loki dropped his gaze for a second, and Tony tried not to notice the dark shadow of his thick eyelashes as he did so. Tried, and failed. "I want to be reconciled with Thor."

"Then I'm thinking that constantly telling him that you're not his brother is a bad move."

Green eyes went hard and cold. "There are things that must be resolved between us. He was not always the loyal, protective 'brother' that you have seen."

"I don't see how it helps to-"

"It is between me and Thor."

Now Loki's controlled tone vibrated with genuine anger. There weren't any windows in this room to be thrown out of, but Tony's stomach flip-flopped anyway. _Don't piss off the former crazed alien invader,_ he advised himself. _Not too much._

"Right, then. Let's get back to the comm system." Again he put his fingertips on the screen of the Starkpad, gestured like a magician, and then the displays were suspended in the air around them. "First of all, don't pay any attention to Steve, this is _not_ a radio."

"Sir," Jarvis interrupted, "Director Fury is on the line."

Tony scowled. "If it's not aliens, take a message."

Fury's voice snarled, "I don't know if he's an alien, but there's a dude in a freaky outfit doing freaky things over in the Financial District. We need the Avengers to suit up."

"Be right there. Okay then, Gotterdammerung, guess we're going to start without the training wheels. You watch what's going on and tell us what you can. Jarvis, help Loki with the system. Pretend he's a liberal arts major." Already Tony was out of the ops room and summoning his newest suit. The others were assembling from around the Tower, pulling on their gear as all but Tony and Thor headed for the roof where the Quinjet was waiting.

"Loki-" Thor began to ask as he and Tony stepped onto the balcony.

"Is in the ops room with the comm system. If we're lucky he'll hit the ground running. Let's go, last one to the freaky outfit dude is a rotten egg."

Thor shot him a puzzled look but didn't ask as they took off into the sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The analysis of Thor's Dream Team formation come from [icy-mischief](http://icy-mischief.tumblr.com/post/37802975584/aniorro-asgardian-dream-team-dream-team). Warning: embedded music at the link, but the pause button is at the bottom left-hand corner of the browser.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers may have more problems than just Thanos.

Loki's task was a simple enough one, and safe in the Tower, watching the fight with the Midgardian surveillance equipment, he didn't even have to worry about defending himself. He could put all of his attention into watching the conflict and reporting what he saw.

There was only one culprit, an unknown man in shiny blue and black, but he was well armed. He had planted numerous bombs in the nearby buildings and was detonating them one at a time. Meanwhile anyone who came too near him, or too near one of his bombs, promptly ran away screaming. At least that meant that few were close enough to the blasts to be injured by them, but numerous people were injured as they fled. Human police were trying to evacuate the area, but there was enough panic and enough rubble to thwart their efforts.

It was Jarvis who was able to determine that the man and his bombs were all guarded by what the humans called an Active Denial System. It fired a high-powered beam of extremely high frequency waves that worked upon the top few layers of skin, making the victim feel as if he were on fire. It was not very harmful, but it was painful and effective.

It was also unpleasantly close to certain things in Loki's immediate past. He began to feel sick, but forced himself to keep a calm demeanour and continue to survey all of the activity Jarvis displayed for him.

Once they knew what it was, it was fairly simple to stop the man. Barton's arrows knocked the man's large and elaborate guns from his hands. Stark's armor protected him from the sensation of fire, allowing him to get close enough to the culprit to take him into custody. By swiftly reviewing the surveillance footage of people in the surrounding buildings screaming and fleeing, Loki was able to pinpoint the locations of the remaining bombs so that they could be disarmed or at least people removed from their vicinity. 

That was when Jarvis announced, "By the way, Loki, a team of burglars attempted to break into the Tower while you were intent on the surveillance."

"What? Why didn't you tell me?"

"There was no need. Once I detected them, I sealed the doors of the room they were in. They are still there. They did not get past the first floor. Though it is alarming that they were able to gain entry at all. Mr. Stark and I will have to investigate how they were able to do it."

"Have you told Stark?"

"Of course, sir."

"I suppose police are coming to take the men away?"

"I have not yet notified the police or SHIELD. The nature of the work done in this building makes a break-in SHIELD business, but I do not think Mr. Stark would take kindly to SHIELD agents entering his Tower while he is away from it. Especially given the Avengers' concerns about SHIELD's plans regarding you, Loki."

"That is... very thoughtful of you, Jarvis. Any king would be fortunate to have a chamberlain with judgment so astute." Perhaps, when the time came, Stark could be persuaded to make one for Thor. Assuming Stark could be trusted to create one which put Asgard's interests above Midgard's. Loki wondered if he himself might be able to create a being like Jarvis. A tantalizing thought, but one fraught with peril; such elaborate magics tended to bring out the darkest aspects of one's own soul in unexpected ways. Loki was not so enmeshed in his own darkness as to want it unleashed.

Jarvis's dryly phrased thanks prompted Loki out of these thoughts and he resumed his task. By now the panicking civilians had calmed down somewhat and in a few hours rubble was being cleared, deactivated bombs taken away, and a large packet of information about the perpetrator delivered to Jarvis from SHIELD. When the area was deemed safe, the Avengers returned to the Tower and SHIELD was summoned to take away the would-be burglars. Food was ordered and a feast held - it seemed this was the Avengers' custom after a battle, constant since their first fight as a team, against Loki. Thor was still cheerful from the fighting and almost missed Loki slipping away when his stomach rebelled against the unfamiliar food - Chinese food, the humans had said; pleasant to the taste, but strange.

"Are you leaving us already, brother?" Thor boomed, clapping a heavy hand down onto Loki's shoulder. Loki winced. Thor always did forget that most people, even Asgardians - or Jotnar - were more breakable than he was. "I looked forward to celebrating our victory with you, as we used to!"

"If you had spent the better part of four years in an oven you wouldn't be very energetic either, you oaf." A shadow flitted over Thor's face at the reminder, and Loki was surprised at how disappointed he felt. Thor cheerful and flush with triumph was part of the normal furniture of his life. Thor sad and troubled was... necessary, perhaps, but not very pleasant. "Oh, very well, I'll stay. But I can't sit up in this chair any longer." He went to the nearest couch and stretched out on it, hiding his amusement when Thor solicitously brought him more red Gatorade.

"You always did sneak away in the midst of the celebrations," Thor complained, sitting on the floor beside Loki's couch with a bottle of beer and another little carton of oddly flavored meats.

"Not always." Only on the occasions when Loki's magic had saved their lives, and Thor ignored this embarrassing fact while he boasted of his own feats and valor. When they had been very young, Loki had tried to complain about this. The result each time was a barrage of taunts from all and sundry - _sorcerer, liesmith, jealous younger son, some do battle and others just do tricks, ergi._ Even their father - supposed father, in Loki's case - who was just as much a trickster and sorcerer as Loki, was indifferent to Loki's achievements and to Thor's vanity. Loki was far more like Odin than Odin's actual son, but Thor was what Odin had always wished to be - mighty, honest, brave to the point of stupidity. Familiar anger bubbled up and Loki remembered Stark's puzzled expression when he had asked Loki if he loved Thor. Of course no one who didn't have a brother could understand this tangled mess of affection and gratitude and grudges and envy. Aloud Loki said, "I'm tired and I wanted to take advantage of the quiet to read about today's miscreants while you were in here cavorting." Though actually the Avengers all looked much too tired to cavort. Even Thor was slouching against the couch as he drank.

Thor sat up straighter. "I meant to tell you, brother. You do have a room of your own here, we just thought at first you might need to be looked after during the night, you were so ill. And I confess that I am still afraid of letting you out of my sight."

Loki sighed. This was Thor all over, triggering painful memories and making touching shows of loyalty in the space of one minute. If only he could have been entirely the brainless bully, then Loki could have hated him, but no, everything had to be complicated. "We are not brothers. But I am grateful for your protection."

Thor scowled, stubborn. "We _are_ brothers, in every way that matters. I will make you admit it, Loki."

Loki could think of numerous possible replies to that, but lacked the energy for the quarrel that would ensue, so he let it drop. Stark suggested they all get a start on reviewing the data together, and Jarvis conjured a display and presented an overview of the men who had opposed them this day.

Loki did not understand everything that Jarvis told them. There were too many references to Midgardian things unfamiliar to him. The Other had allowed him to gather enough general information about Midgard to plan his invasion (and how he would sabotage it), but there was a great deal Loki still did not know. When the Avengers began to disperse, Loki asked Thor where his room was, and once inside, stretched out on the bed and started asking Jarvis questions inspired by the debriefing about today's burglars and aspiring supervillain. Who was the Russian mafia? What was the significance of Afghanistan? Who was the Unabomber?

The room, Loki was amused to see, was decorated all in green, the exact shade of his cape. It was a thoughtful gesture on Thor's part, or perhaps Stark's. And the air conditioning allowed him to make the room nice and cold. He always had liked the cold, had had a much higher tolerance for it than Asgardians did. In retrospect, there had been a thousand little clues to the truth about himself, and he had caught none of them.

"So, the man in the ghastly blue suit today," Loki said, trying to get everything straight, "seems to be a madman who somehow gained access to technology which is hard to obtain on Midgard, who has an ill-defined grudge against the world and has consumed too many of the wrong medicines. He chooses to call himself the Cleanser. He has no clear connections to any organization or any other criminals; the only real question is how he obtained the Active Denial devices. Is this correct?"

"Indeed, Loki," Jarvis responded.

"And the burglars who tried to break in here were professionals, but middling ones, hired and given the access codes that allowed them to get as far as they did by a mysterious man who was probably hiring them on someone else's behalf? Possibly this Justin Hammer's?"

"Yes. Justin Hammer has been attempting for years to be Mr. Stark's rival - with little success. He had to bribe several people in high places to gain his early parole; industrial espionage would not be a surprising sequel to this."

"Hmm." Jarvis had told him Hammer's history. It made sense. Loki lay in silence for a while, trying to put all his new information in order. He was beginning to wonder if he was going to have time to learn enough about Midgard to take proper advantage of being here. There was no way of knowing how long it would be before Thanos made his real attack. No way of knowing how long it would take him to win Thor's trust back. Oh, Thor would probably trust him in battle, and Thor's love was certainly not in question, but if they were to defend Midgard, if they were to preserve their own safety, more was needed. Greater trust than either of them had ever had in anyone before. And that despite all that had passed between them in the last few years.

Loki tried to sleep, but these thoughts and disordered attempts at plans raced through his mind and at last he gave up, dressed and wandered into the dimly lit common room.

It was empty except for Stark, who was watching the footage of the attempted burglary again. He was wearing loose black pants and a white sleeveless shirt that nicely displayed his lean muscles and the glowing arc reactor. His dark hair was a little tousled, as if he had mussed it and was too absorbed to think to smooth it down. Loki would have liked to do that for him, but of course that was out of the question.

"May I join you?" Loki asked softly. He was going to show his hosts every courtesy; his plans depended upon their relative good will.

Stark waved a hand at the empty seat beside him, not taking his eyes off the screen. Loki sat beside him and they watched for a few minutes in silence, until something caught Stark's eye. He rewound and watched the same few moments several times.

"What are you looking for?" Loki finally asked.

"I usually don't know until I see it. This - that guy's hand moved funny, but I think it's nothing."

"Do you always do this?"

"Yes. I did it with you and the Chitauri, too. Watched every bit of footage of you and them over and over like a teenage girl with a crush."

Loki forced himself not to smirk. If they started flirting, even if they were joking, it was only too likely to get out of hand. "Oh? And what did you learn?"

"I confirmed my theory that you were sabotaging your own invasion. To my own satisfaction, anyway; the team wasn't completely convinced, but I think you finally won them over. Also, the Chitauri aren't very bright."

"They are _draugar_ , it isn't surprising."

"What are _draugar_?"

"Thanos killed them all, the entire species, and then reanimated and controlled them by magic. That is why they all collapsed when the portal closed; their link with their master was severed."

"Great. Alien zombies. Why couldn't we get visited by a cute big-eyed dude who collects plants and loves Reese's Pieces?"

"It will take a human lifetime of study to be able to carry on a conversation with you, Stark."

"There was this movie when I was a kid. I must have seen it ten times. Everybody loved it. I watched it and hoped so hard that we would make contact with aliens in my lifetime."

"And you did and it turns out that far too many of us want to kill you."

Stark turned to look at him. Abruptly Loki was keenly aware of their proximity, their isolation, the dim quiet room. It was a perfect setting. Nothing could be more natural than for one of them to move a little closer, and then Stark's skin would be warm against him, his hair soft, their mouths would fit together perfectly.... 

Loki should have stayed in his own room. He shouldn't have joined Stark on this couch. He was going to have to do something to break the moment, but he couldn't quite, not yet. Just a minute and he would. Just a minute. He leaned back, putting himself maybe one more inch away from Stark, just a hint that he was not going to act on the electricity crackling between them.

Stark spoke, still holding Loki's gaze. "So is this how it's going to be? One alien species after another trying to kill us or conquer us, until one of them succeeds?"

"It isn't impossible," Loki admitted. "Asgard has long stood against those with such aspirations, throughout the Nine Realms. But beyond the Nine, there are other realms, scarcely known to us, and in those Asgard has no power."

"So we're on our own."

"Not entirely. You have Thor - and me, ironic as that may seem just now."

"Your king doesn't seem too interested in continuing to discourage intergalactic empire building nowadays. All he let us have is two warriors, one of whom won't be combat-ready for weeks yet. From what Thor tells me about Asgard's weapons vault, there's things in there that could solve our alien problem in no time, but Odin won't let any of them out to play."

Loki had the impulse to get up then and get a drink or something so that Stark couldn't watch his face. But that in itself would give too much away to someone like Stark, so Loki was stuck sitting right next to the handsomest genius on Midgard, trying not to pounce on him even though doing so would be very, very easy.

"You have the Tesseract here, do you not?" Loki pointed out. "I know Thor used it to bring us here."

"Yeah, but we don't know how to use it. We don't dare experiment much because of what happened last time, what with you showing up and killing half the people in the room, putting the mind whammy on half the rest, and then letting the Chitauri and their giant flying bone-fish in."

Well, at least that broke the tension that had been building between them with every second. And Loki suspected that was exactly why Stark had said it. To remind himself of what Loki had done, how untrustworthy he really was. Loki looked away with relief - and inevitable, useless disappointment. 

"I know a great deal about how to use it, but I doubt you are foolhardy enough to allow me near it. And I confess, I would be afraid of getting too close to it. If Thanos still retains any connection to it, he might sense my presence, and that would be unpleasant for everyone."

"So tell me how to use it. Safely up here."

Loki wondered if Stark realized that he had just confirmed that the cube was in the Tower, on some floor below this one. That might be useful... later.

"I already agreed to. Remember? I promised to explain to you how magic works."

"So I can't just turn it over and click my heels three times? I have to actually understand it to use it against the aliens?"

"I fear so."

"Then let's get started on that tomorrow. That is now your official job here: Professor of Defense Against The Alien Arts. I'd say let's start right now, but I can't stop thinking about this." He gestured at the security feed, turning back to it.

"What troubles you so much about it? All of the miscreants were apprehended without undue difficulty."

"Yeah, but... for one thing, it's not Hammer's style. He'll break the law, sure, but he's chickenshit. This is too overt for him, too risky. Unless prison changed him."

"Who else could have sent them?"

"Anyone. Not literally, but it's not like I have any shortage of enemies. But...." Stark frowned.

Loki gave him a minute. "But what?"

"In the last three years, nobody but the aliens have given me much shit. The Avengers are Earth's best defense against them and hardly anyone's crazy enough to interfere with that. Criminals or whatever, they won't have a world to loot if the Avengers are damaged seriously. And that includes me, my research and my funding."

"Are there humans who don't want their own species to survive?"

"I think so, but they would be, I dunno, depressed lunatics living in a shack somewhere. Kind of what Mr. Clean was before he upped his meds and somehow found ADS devices. They wouldn't have the resources to do this. And if they managed to get them - I don't think any human who hates his own species would like the Chitauri any better. It would be one thing if the Chitauri or Skrulls appeared to be superior to us, smarter or something, potential benevolent despots, but they don't." Stark stopped, frowned. "There's two things we need to figure out."

"And those are?"

"First, how did 'the Cleanser' get ahold of ADS devices? Those are hard to get if you're not, you know, a government. He might have managed to get some kind of terrorist connections. Fury might be able to find out for us, but I'm not just going to sit back and rely on him."

When Stark paused, Loki obligingly prompted, "And the second?"

"How did the burglars know the Avengers were out of the building? Were they just waiting for something to happen so we'd have to assemble? Or...." Stark's eyes narrowed at nothing, and Loki knew that his presence was now all but forgotten. "Son of a bitch. _They_ gave Mr. Clean his devices. Or not them personally, but whoever hired them. Mr. Clean was a pawn, just there to distract us, keep us busy while these other guys broke in." Stark's hands were moving restlessly as he spoke. "But if they had that kind of resources, why weren't they better equipped for breaking in? Not that their tech wasn't pretty impressive, or they wouldn't even have gotten in the door, but there should have been something more. I don't like it. Jarvis, call Fury."

"Sir, it is almost two o'clock in the morning. Is this really urgent enough to wake Director Fury?"

"Damn. No, I guess not. Just, make sure that he gets all this first thing in the morning. Everything I was just saying about Mr. Clean and the burglar wanna-bes. And make sure you hack SHIELD for everything they find out about these guys." A new segment of footage of the Cleanser began, and Stark scowled at it.

Loki watched the man's single-minded concentration with amusement for a couple of minutes before saying softly, "I'll leave you to it, then," and rising. Stark waved a hand at him absently, his eyes glued to the footage.

Back in his room, Loki found himself finally beginning to fall asleep. As he did, he reflected that it really was too bad that he and Stark had been enemies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Active Denial Systems are [a real thing](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_denial).
> 
> For those of you who just got here from Asgard last week, the movie Tony is referring to is _E.T._


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony goes to question Justin Hammer. Loki tags along.

"I've known Hammer for years," Tony grumbled as he entered the ballroom. "I can tell when he's lying."

"You brought the god of lies to this planet, you might as well use him," Pepper retorted, her social smile not faltering.

Pepper had assigned one of her minions to find out what black-tie events Hammer was going to attend in the next week so that Tony could buttonhole him, see if anything Tony said would make him squirm. Thus far SHIELD had found no evidence linking Hammer with the theft; he was a suspect only because of his history as Tony's would-be rival.

Tony had made the mistake, however, of mentioning his plan to Loki that afternoon, in order to explain why he had to stop plundering Loki's brain on the subject of magic (which was fascinating, by the way, it was like getting to start learning science from the start all over again) and go put on his tux. Loki had insisted on accompanying him. He was the god of lies and could, he claimed, always tell when a person was lying.

Tony was inclined to think that was more to do with long experience than with being a god, but whatever.

He had tried pointing out that Loki showing up in public was likely to cause a stampede, and Loki had made a hand gesture and cast a glamour on himself. His features weren't very different, just a little less gaunt, but his coloring was: wavy dark blond hair of a more conventional Midgardian length and skin much less pallid. Certainly he would not be easily recognized as the crazed alien in the horned helmet who had terrorized the crowd in Stuttgart. Next Tony had explained that the event required a tuxedo, and Jarvis, the traitor, had spoken up and announced that there was a tux among the clothing he had ordered for Loki. "You did say casual _and_ formal, sir," Jarvis pointed out.

Pepper had turned on him too, claiming she thought it was a good idea to bring Loki along. Tony considered it more likely that this was her revenge on him for having been such a pain in the rear all their lives. "What if he kills someone?" Tony had protested.

Loki lifted a sardonic eyebrow. "Yes, I'm going to risk being executed - or worse, sent back to Asgard - by killing some human I don't even know in front of one of my former adversaries and all the surveillance Midgard can boast. You have cleverly deduced my cunning plan."

"Notice that he's not saying he's not evil enough to kill anyone tonight, just not dumb enough," Tony pointed out.

Pepper was unimpressed. "If he said he had scruples, you wouldn't believe him even if it's true now." Loki had only smiled. It was sort of disturbing, seeing that now familiar sly smile on that altered face.

The other Avengers hadn't been very sympathetic either. Thor had agreed that Loki's gifts at detecting falsehood were formidable and that therefore he should go. The rest just hadn't seemed to care. Of course, they weren't the ones who would have to spend the evening waiting for all hell to break loose.

It wasn't so much that Tony had given in as that Loki had simply put on the tux and gotten into the car with him and Pepper, and Pepper hadn't objected and Tony couldn't drag demigods out of his car by force, at least not without the suit, and with everyone else against him on this it would be kind of petty to put on the suit just to boot the god of mischief out of his car.

Tony would wait until he killed someone.

On the drive over, Pepper started to make polite small talk, managing as only Pepper could to avoid such thorny subjects as prison, alien invasions, Asgard, and the existence of blood relatives. Loki, for his part, had turned on the charm, and yeah, now Tony understood why he was called Silvertongue. Pepper _knew_ everything that Loki had done, she had more detailed knowledge of it than most people on Earth, but in about one minute she had exchanged her polite smile for a real one, and the bastard was teasing her about her new designer handbag and she was _giggling_. 

And now the three of them were inside, and the cameras were flashing and Tony could already imagine the stupid captions that would appear under the photos. With his reputation, Tony Stark couldn't show up anywhere with a beautiful woman _and_ a beautiful man and expect it to pass unremarked. 

Loki looked great in a tux, by the way. Even with his coloring altered. Well, that wasn't a surprise; Tony had seen the man in a suit, from the Stuttgart footage. _Yeah, he looked really hot while he was gouging that guy's eyeball out._

Really, Tony should have gotten over the whole danger kink years ago. At his age it wasn't becoming.

"I'm not doing this without a drink," Tony announced, not that it was likely anyone had expected him to. He flagged down one of the waiters who was passing with a tray of champagne flutes and took two, handed one to Pepper, and snagged a third to offer Loki. 

Loki looked at it thoughtfully. "Thank you, but I think I had better not. Your healer advised against alcohol until I am more recovered."

Tony shrugged and drained the glass himself before taking a look around. He spotted a couple of people he actually wanted to speak to and told Pepper, "You're the one who thought bringing him here was a good idea, you look after him." With that he walked away.

He chatted about programming for a while with a pal from MIT who had sold his software company for a disgusting sum. Then he found a fellow racing enthusiast and they gossiped about the next Grand Prix. A refined French lady of mature years had recently inherited the company that made Tony's favorite cognac; he determined that she would implement no disastrous changes in the brew and was much relieved. A starlet, still dazzled by the company she was suddenly in, flirted with him outrageously. That was amusing, but it was nonetheless a relief when Tony was able to fob her off on a pop singer - the guy was a bit long in the tooth, but had provided the soundtrack to the starlet's puberty, which to her outshone everything else.

That was when Pepper appeared at his elbow, deftly snatching his fifth - sixth? - champagne from his fingers. "You've got to deal with Hammer now," she told him in a low voice, keeping a carefree smile on her face for the benefit of onlookers.

"Why now?"

"Because he's trying to get into Loki's pants."

"What?" Tony's head snapped around. Sure enough, there Hammer was, oozing his smarmy charm - if you could call it that - all over Loki. Who was flirting back. Smiling indulgently and fixing those green-blue eyes on him like Justin Hammer was (Norse gods forbid) the last man on Earth.

Tony had thought he hated Hammer before, but at that moment if he had been wearing the suit, Justin Hammer would have been a grease spot on the ballroom floor.

"I thought you were watching him!"

Pepper was looking at him oddly. "He slipped away while I was talking to the new CEO of ViCorp. I am not a babysitter, Tony."

"I beg to differ, you were my PA for years." Tony was moving across the room, elbowing people aside, not caring how it looked. Pepper was hurrying to keep up.

When he reached them, Hammer smirked at him. "Not very sociable of you, Tony, keeping Luke here all to yourself."

"I keep telling you," Loki told Hammer blandly, "that you misapprehend. Tony Stark and I are sworn enemies. I nearly killed him once, and he's shot me with his suit - how many times was it? Three?"

"I think it was only twice."

Hammer wasn't buying it. Just like Hammer, not to believe the plain truth when he heard it. "I'm telling you, Luke, Tony Stark's fortunes are on the wane. You want to attach yourself to someone with more staying power."

"Like you?" Loki smiled, and Tony had seen that razor-sharp smile before, through the glass of the Hulk cage as Loki had taunted Fury. But then Loki's gaze slid to Tony. "Justin here has been telling me the most _interesting_ things about you, _Anthony_."

The formal version of Tony's name was spoken with just a bit of emphasis, and Tony took swift revenge. "Nothing good, I'm sure, _Loke_."

"You guess right. It seems you go through attractive women and men like - how did you put it, Justin? 'Like a hot knife through butter'?"

Tony went ahead and rolled his eyes. It wasn't like anyone could expect originality out of Justin Hammer. "Don't worry, you're in no danger of joining my multitude of cast-off lovers, Loke. I'm kind of occupied with other things these days."

That got Hammer's attention. "Don't tell me you're going back into weapons, after all that idealistic crap you-"

"I mean like the Avengers. I mean like finding whoever's behind the break-in at Avengers Tower the other day."

Tony, Loki and Pepper were all watching Hammer carefully, but all his face showed was surprise and a hint of spiteful satisfaction. "You're a superhero and you can't keep people from breaking into your Tower? Well, I know I'll sleep better knowing Iron Man is-"

"They didn't get past the lobby," Pepper cut in, dismissive.

Hammer hadn't done it. He wasn't that good an actor. So far as Tony was concerned, the evening was over. "I'm going home to do something more exciting, like pick a new shade of red for my next Iron Man suit," he announced. "You two can stay here and take advantage of the open bar if you want."

Neither of them wanted, though Hammer invited Loki to have breakfast with him. Loki said, very seriously (and untruthfully), that he always skipped breakfast, and the three of them made their escape.

"That man actually aspires to be your rival?" Loki asked in clear disgust once they were safely in the limo, allowing the glamour to fall away so that his true face showed. Tony was used to seeing the would-be conqueror around his home by now, but Pepper stared at him for a long moment. Sure, she had known, but _seeing_ the real Loki was a different matter. "You could easily crush a dozen of him."

"Don't be too flattered by his efforts to lay you." Tony's voice was surly, but hey, his attention was on trying to mix himself a martini in the back of a moving limo. "He only wanted you because he thinks you're sleeping with me."

"He did draw his own conclusions about that, yes," Loki said airily. "I denied it, but he refused to believe me."

"I'm thinking you could have denied it more convincingly," Tony grumbled, fumbling with the jar of olives and finally deciding to just forget the fucking garnish.

"I could. But I thought his tongue might be looser if he thought he might get to apply it to your lover."

Pepper was giving Tony a withering look, which Tony didn't think was fair at all. He wasn't the one making sexy plays on words. Or thinking about tongues being applied to Loki. Or replaying Loki's husky voice saying " _your lover_ " over and over. 

No, wait, that was totally him.

Christ.

"Did he say anything useful?" Tony forced himself to ask.

"He has nothing to do with the break-in. Certainly he wishes to cause you trouble, but that is beyond his capabilities." Loki's voice positively dripped with contempt. "A mosquito could cause you more trouble than he could at his best."

"See, Pep, someone has faith in me," Tony mumbled into his glass. It was almost empty and Pepper took it from him, exasperated.

"When you've slept off all that champagne, Tony, stop reviewing the information that it wasn't Hammer who hired those thieves and get to work on figuring out who _did_."

"Right. Who did. Who has the resources to get ADS devices, and to hire people to hire people to hire burglars, and...." Tony's eyes drifted closed. He could hear Pepper sighing in irritation.

An indeterminate time later, the limo stopped and a voice broke into Tony's daze. "Shall I carry him inside?" 

The amusement in Loki's voice snapped Tony out of it. Loki had needed Thor to carry him around barely a week ago, where did he get off? "I can walk, you alien asshole."

"I've got him, Loki, thank you. You go on inside." Pepper sounded like the harried mother of a toddler. No wonder Tony hadn't been able to keep her. He didn't deserve her. She should have someone better. Someone who wouldn't let her down. Who wouldn't cause her so much trouble.

Tony opened his eyes. Loki was gone. Happy was waiting outside the limo to help him into the Tower. But Tony stayed where he was, the limo's door closed, looking at Pepper, whose pretty face was giving him a look he had seen too many times.

"Pep," Tony blurted out, before he knew he was going to, "I'm sorry I wasn't better."

The smile she gave him reminded him why he had tried so hard, why she was still his best friend in the world when he hadn't been able to stay friends with any of his other exes. "I know, Tony. It's okay."

"It isn't. I shoulda been better. You deserve better."

"Tony, you're drunk."

"Of course I'm drunk. You think I could say any of this sober?"

"Are you sober enough that you'll remember what I say to you tomorrow?"

Tony considered for a moment. He had years of experience evaluating such things. "I'm pretty sure I will."

"Don't have sex with Loki."

Tony gawked at her as if this were the Victorian era and no one talked about sex, ever.

"Tony, I saw how you looked when Justin Hammer was flirting with him. I know, Loki is good-looking in the extreme and you've always liked the dangerous ones, but this is beyond dangerous."

"I thought you liked him," Tony protested. "You certainly seemed to when we driving out there tonight."

"He's charming. A lot of psychopaths are."

At least that was reassuring; Pepper hadn't been silver-tongued into forgetting what Loki was. "You think he's a psychopath?" _Talk me out of it, Pep, please._

"I don't know. I know what he did and I know the extenuating circumstances. We know he's capable of doing evil things. What we don't know is what he'll do when he can choose freely. I would rather you not be the test case."

Tony sat up straighter and fumbled in the minibar. He found a bottle of spring water and a couple of protein bars. He ate half of a bar and drank most of the bottle of water before he figured his blood alcohol had receded enough to talk about this. Not enough to be really sober - that took hours, he knew all the science of drunkenness to go along with years of personal experimentation - but it helped to think a little more clearly. Pepper watched with resigned patience, having seen this ritual many times before.

"Thor says that Loki spent a couple thousand years causing mischief, not mayhem." Tony was proud of how little slurring he was doing. Hardly any. "Seeing as how those few years of mayhem got him falling into a wormhole, tortured by evil aliens, and mauled by Hulks, maybe given the chance he'd just as soon go back to mischief."

"Has he caused any mischief since he's been here?"

Tony thought. It was slow work, what with all that champagne and then a martini, but he did it. "Thanks, now I have one more thing to worry about. No. He was in pretty bad shape when he first got here. And I mean, if we're not happy with him, he's pretty much fucked. Unless he can escape, which I don't think he can. Not until he's had more time to re... recuperate."

"Tony, promise me you won't sleep with him."

"I'm not going to sleep with an alien invader! For all I know he has tentacles. He nearly killed me."

"None of that will even slow you down. He's hot and smart and dangerous."

"I'm sure Thor would demand two cows and a goat in recompense if I defiled his precious little brother, and I don't have any livestock."

"Promise me." Pepper knew when he was evading a subject.

He made himself look at her seriously. "I don't intend to sleep with him."

"Don't leave yourself loopholes, Tony."

"Pep... I'm a jerkass. We both know that. But one thing I won't do is promise you anything I can't definitely deliver. I don't plan to get horizontal with a possibly reformed emotionally unstable alien supervillain, but it's not completely impossible that...." Tony trailed off, trying to figure out how to finish that sentence. 

Pepper sighed and leaned over him to open the door. "Put him to bed, Happy," she said, resigned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [For those of you who want to know what Loki would look like with fair hair in a tux.](http://www.celebitchy.com/258482/tom_hiddleston_lovely_dashing_in_a_tuxedo_in_london_would_you_hit_it/) You're welcome.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki and the Avengers eat pizza together.
> 
> A lot can happen over pizza.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Grey Bard for betaing.

Pizza was of great cultural importance on Midgard, Loki had observed. More than any other Earth food, it was used to cement alliances and confirm friendships. If a human shared pizza with you, it was a show of friendship, or at least of goodwill. A human who ate pizza with you was at the very least telling you that there was a possibility of an alliance between you. It seemed almost instinct with them to summon this favorite delicacy after any distressing event. Pizza was nearly always the food they chose for their after-battle feasts, and the one they called for after an argument within the team or with Fury, to affirm that the warrior bond between them all remained intact.

At formal banquets or business dinners, Loki gathered, pizza was never served. In those situations one was dealing with adversaries or strangers. Pizza was shared only with people with whom one did not have to be on guard.

Tony Stark would never have shared pizza with Justin Hammer.

The first time the Avengers had allowed him to join them in eating pizza, right after Loki had discovered what Thor had suffered trying to rescue him, Loki had not realized the honor they were showing him. Thankfully he did not seem to have committed any _faux pas_ that would have destroyed the good faith they had offered to him, and he had been permitted to join them for the delicacy on subsequent occasions. After a couple of times he began to grasp the significance of the food to his hosts.

So when, a couple of days after the encounter with Justin Hammer, Stark had ended the day's tutorial in what he called Magic 101 with a casual, "That's enough for today, let's call the others and order pizza," Loki knew just how honored he should feel. They did not trust him entirely, of course they didn't, but they were giving him a chance. The chance that they needed as much as he did, because they could not defend their realm from Thanos without his help, whether they realized this yet or not.

They ascended to the common area - Loki, Stark and Banner. Banner had the same thirst for knowledge as Stark, even though he was quieter about it. When he got absorbed in the discussion, he forgot his usual cautious distance from others and, indeed, everything except the joy of adding to his knowledge. After such a conversation it was somewhat amusing to remember how their personalities had all but faded away, leaving only insatiable curiosity and the subject itself, the insights falling into place, the facts forming a pattern for them to perceive, connections making themselves apparent.

Banner was as intrigued by the workings of magic as Stark was, but still Loki suspected that Stark wanted him there partly to serve as a chaperone. Which was just as well; the chemistry between him and Stark had still not receded, and even though neither of them had spoken of it, they both knew it was out of the question that they act upon it.

It was not in any way Loki's fault that the conversation that took place as they ate that evening was not appropriate pizza talk.

Part of the ritual of pizza was that serious topics were rarely discussed while it was being consumed. The talk would be of trivial everyday matters, or silly jokes, or of the recorded sagas humans watched so avidly. The message was that those present had enough trust in one another that important matters could be left aside for the moment in favor of discussions that were purely fun. There was even some gentle flyting, as when comically excessive insults were tossed back and forth between those Avengers who preferred the saga _Star Wars_ and those who preferred _Star Trek_. (Loki had not had time to see either yet and so could not take part, to his regret. Thor was in the former camp, Stark in the latter.) 

On this occasion, the humans were telling funny stories from their childhoods. Loki had learned enough about these humans to know that childhood was a perilous subject for all of them, but given the conditional nature of his presence, it wasn't really his place to bring up any more pizza-suitable subject. And they did all, it seemed, have a few lighthearted stories even from the ordeal of childhood. 

"I knew what a wasps' nest looked like," Barton said, "but I hadn't seen a yellow jackets' one before, so I just walked right over to it, went, 'What's this? _pokepokepoke,'_ " he jabbed his finger in the air to illustrate, "and the next thing I knew I was half a block away holding my hand and yelling."

"When I was ten, kids in my class - mostly boys - threw chalk whenever the teacher was out," Rogers said. "They told us not to do it, but, you know, kids. I never did until one day, near the end of the year. My friend Bucky picked up a piece of chalk and looked at me and said, 'I'll do it if you will.' So, I don't know why, but I picked one up and we both threw them. Of course, that was when the teacher came back, _with_ the principal. We got hauled to the principal's office-"

"You got sent to the principal's office for _throwing chalk?"_ Tony echoed.

"Yes." As so often, Rogers had a faintly bewildered look on his earnest face. He felt almost as out of place in this time as Loki and Thor did.

"My gosh, the 30's must have been nice."

"Yeah. The Depression, Prohibition, mafia wars, the Dust Bowl, no antibiotics - it was great."

"Sorry, sorry. So what happened?"

"We had to stay after school. We told the principal we hadn't been doing it all along, and he said, 'That's what they all say.'"

And then Thor had to open his big mouth.

"When Loki learned how to cast his illusions, I used to make him use them to steal candy for us all," he said with a grin.

"Even on Asgard, the grownups don't want you to have candy," Tony declaimed.

"You could have just asked," Loki muttered. He spoke softly and expected to be ignored, but Rogers was sitting beside him and caught the words.

"What, you didn't want to steal the candy?" Rogers asked.

"Oh, I'm sure he did, but he always protested," Thor said.

"Sometimes I got caught." Loki shrugged, hoping the subject would be dropped.

"What, even with your illusion powers? How could you get caught when the grownups thought you were on the other side of the room?" There was an edge to Barton's voice that made everyone at the table tense. Of course he would not break pizza protocol enough to actually _say_ that it was Loki's powers of illusion that had made it possible for him to stab the foolishly courageous son of Coul, but Barton's sharp tone reminded everyone of it anyway, and that reminded them all of how fragile this alliance was, of how uncertain they yet had to be of Loki's morals.

If only this conversation hadn't been happening over _pizza._

Perhaps if he made light of it they would get bored and move on to something else. "I was a beginner." He tried to keep his voice indifferent. "My illusions sometimes faltered."

"Yes, they faltered when I tackled you to the floor!" Thor said, laughing heartily.

"You tackled him when he was doing magic for you? That doesn't strike me as a sound strategy," Banner said in measured tones. 

"Or tickled him, or made a loud noise to startle him. Suddenly there he would be in the larder, stuffing his pockets with sweets."

Pizza was delicious, especially the kind with the green pesto sauce instead of the red tomato sauce, but Loki abruptly found his interest in the delicacy evaporating. This was turning into half the feasts and banquets he had had to sit through on Asgard. Well, at least he had a lot of practice. He kept his expression indifferent. "Thor did me a favor. That's how I learned to sustain my illusions no matter what interrupted my concentration. It's saved my life in many battles since."

Thor laughed, that booming laugh that Loki loved hearing when he had inspired it deliberately and hated any other time. "That isn't what you said then! He used to get so angry at me," Thor told the others, "and his famous silver tongue is wicked when he is angry."

Loki forced himself to take a tiny bite of pizza and chew it thoroughly. It was a good trick for getting through an unpleasant feast without people pestering you about why you weren't eating.

Rogers was frowning. "How did you 'make' Loki steal candy for you?"

"Oh, I would take his magic books from him and not let him have them back until he did it. I said I would burn them, but of course I did not."

"You did once," Loki reminded him and then kicked himself. Such accusations were not to be made over pizza.

"That's true, I did! I had almost forgotten. Father was furious. I believe I was polishing shields for weeks! The books were all really Father's, of course, so I would never do it again. But Loki might not have been so sure, and the threat still worked."

Thor's chuckles died after a few seconds as he noticed the awkward silence that had fallen around the table. He looked around at the humans, bewildered. "My friends?"

It was Stark who replied. "Thor... I don't know how to tell you this, but that was kind of a dick move."

"It is the way of brothers to play such small pranks upon each other," Thor assured them. And then, damn it all, the humans were all looking at Loki.

"Thor," Rogers said, very gently, "I don't think it was as much fun for Loki."

Thor looked at Loki. "Do not tell me you still hold a grudge about this, Loki, it was centuries ago and we were boys!"

Loki realized he was clutching the edge of the table hard enough that it would likely splinter in another moment - Midgardian furniture was so flimsy. He loosened his fingers and tried to think of something to say. If he told Thor that it wasn't the magic books held hostage for candy that sustained his grudge, but the thousands of other similar incidents that had followed over the years, changing with the years but the same in substance, each petty by itself but piled up together... if he said all that, the result would be another long session of weeping and discussion of painful things like the one they had when he learned of Thor's exile on Jotunheim. And probably they needed at least one more conversation like that, but it would _hurt_ and Loki didn't think he could endure it yet. Besides which, the humans would likely lose what little trust they had in him if such a discussion began over _pizza_. They would think him incapable of any civilized behavior. No one would remember that he had done his best to steer the conversation away from unpleasant matters, that he had done his best to hide his feelings. He would be blamed, just like always.

"Loki," Thor's voice was chiding, the "older brother" voice that had always made Loki want to tear Thor's golden hair out of his scalp, "those were the games of children. It was all in good fun. You cannot continue to-"

"Whoa, whoa, Mr. Universe, stop right there." Stark, of course. "I don't know when this became the Family Therapy Tower, but seriously, you cannot just tell your brother - excuse me, _foster_ brother, can we not hear _that_ argument again just now - to stop being upset that you were an asshole to him just because it was fun for _you_."

"The star quarterback and the president of the chess club," Banner said with a pinched smile. "Turns out it's universal."

Loki swallowed. "It isn't as if I never played a prank on Thor," he said, in a desperate attempt to salvage this pizza gathering. "I - I did all kinds of things to him. And his friends."

"Hm. So Thor," Stark asked, "are you still pissed off at anything Loki did to you when you guys were kids?"

Why did humans refer to their young as baby goats?

"Of course not! He played all sorts of jokes on me - remember when you made my first helmet's wings flap, Loki? - and I was usually furious at the time, but I never stayed angry at him."

"Excuse me." Banner pushed himself away from the table abruptly and headed for the elevator. The others were quiet as he walked to it, and when the numbers above the elevator doors showed that he was going down to the basement they glared at Thor.

"Nice work, He-Man, you've got Bruce on the verge of Hulking out." At the look of alarm Loki could not control, Stark quickly explained, "There's soothing music and stuff in the basement to help him cool down, but if those fail, the walls are thick and there's lots of concrete things for him to pound on. Usually he gets it out of his system that way."

"And if he doesn't?" Loki tried to sound as if it were a matter of abstract curiosity, even though he doubted he was fooling anyone. Hell, they all looked tense, especially Romanoff; no one with any sense was not afraid of the Hulk. Stark, of course, was a genius, but so far as Loki could tell, had no sense whatever.

"He will. But if he doesn't, hey, Jarvis notifies us and we suit up and distract him until we can calm him down. Sometimes I can make him chill by talking science to him, waking up his brain."

Everyone's attention went back to Thor, who was promptly on the defensive again. "I never held a grudge against Loki for any of the foolish little things he did to me when we were small, why should he hold them against me? Why do you all think it natural that he should when I did not?"

Rogers put his hand to his forehead for a second, looking very pained. "Thor, we're going to have to really talk this over. And you're going to have to _listen_ to us."

Loki sat absolutely still, appearing perfectly calm as he panicked. The situation was spiraling rapidly out of his control; who knew what the humans thought Thor needed to hear and what the result might be?

Thor started to protest one more time, but seeing the uniformly somber faces of his teammates, he subsided, still looking baffled. 

"Don't worry, Charles Atlas, we still love you," Stark assured him, pulling several bottles of beer out of the fridge and passing them around. "G'wan, smooth talker, you can have one beer," he told Loki, plunking one in front of him. "But seriously, Thor, good friends call you on it when you're being an asshat."

"This is between me and my - Loki," Thor protested.

"Sorry, big guy, but it really isn't, seeing as how when his Paternal Conflict Syndrome gets set off, he tends to wreak destruction on this planet. _Our_ planet."

Loki was able to do nothing but listen in silent alarm as Rogers started to explain, in detail that spoke of copious personal experience, why grievances that were easily shrugged off by a favorite son who was the brawniest child in his circle were not experienced the same by the odd child burdened with talents disdained by his society and keenly aware that he was a distant second in his father's affections. 

It escalated, of course. Pizza truces were not completely inviolable, it seemed. When Rogers finally became frustrated enough by Thor's obtuseness to call him some unpleasant names, _bully_ being the one that figured the most prominently, Loki finally had something he could say.

"That isn't true." His voice sounded rough, as if he had been screaming instead of sitting still in a quiet panic. He looked at Thor in resignation. "Thor was never a... malicious child. Or man." Loki drew a discreet steadying breath. "When Thor hurts others, it is because he does not realize what he is inflicting. When he...." Loki searched for the right words. "When Thor is not blind, he is... what is the right word... chivalrous. Protective." He was saying it to play on Thor's vanity, but it was true. And Loki had always admired that about Thor, and not only because he benefited from it. Not only because it was the greatest proof of Thor's affection for him. It was admirable in itself, and something Loki really never would equal, whatever he achieved.

Never mind. Loki might not be as good a person, in his essence, as Thor, but he had his own virtues. He could benefit the realms in his own way.

Loki gave Thor a look of affectionate exasperation, one which they had given each other many times. A brotherly look. "Whatever he did to me, he never allowed anyone else to so much as give me a dirty look." That was not strictly true - Thor's brainless friends had found ways to torment Loki, and Thor had been complicit in too much of it - but it was close enough, and he needed to remind Thor of his own better aspect. And it was working, Thor was tearing up already.

Loki managed a shaky smile at the humans. "How many of you would spend three months stranded in the arctic for someone who had tried to kill you and your friends? I know _I_ am not capable of that."

"Loki." Thor's voice was rough. Loki looked at his mournful expression and knew that he had succeeded; his play (a truthful play, but a play nonetheless) on Thor's vanity had disarmed his defensiveness. "I thought I understood, in the last few years, that I was not always as good a brother as I wished to be. It seems I still... have much to learn. I...." His voice trailed off.

"I know, Thor." Loki glanced at the humans. "Perhaps we should go to your room for a few minutes."

Thor agreed promptly, and once they were alone he actually _apologized._ Loki would have thought he would enjoy that more. Most victories, he had learned, were disappointing in practice. 

"Loki." Thor had his hand on Loki's neck, was holding him close. "Will you still not acknowledge that we are brothers?"

Damn. If the oaf kept this up, he was going to have to spell out the reason Loki could not continue to call himself Odinson. 

Loki looked his not-brother in the eye. "I am not the son of Odin. That is a misfortune I fear you cannot escape."

Thor looked at him somberly. "That is true."

Was Thor beginning to understand? Loki had questions he wanted to ask, but he could not risk ruining this fragile moment. 

Loki was still trying to find the right words when Thor gave him a gentle shake. "Loki. You are right, there is too much strife between us to be mended so swiftly. Know that I will not give up on you."

Loki met his gaze and could not answer. Thor was always so... _Thor._

"And now. Do you need to rest? What do you wish to do right now?"

Loki looked down for an instant, then slowly smiled.

"Right now?" He reached up to put his hand on Thor's, then stepped away. "Right now, I wish to eat more pizza."

Thor laughed and gave him the gentlest of claps on his shoulder. They rejoined the humans and the conversation somehow turned to everyone's favorite video games. Now and then Loki caught Thor giving him a little smile, which he dutifully returned, feeling something painful in him slowly unwind and ease each time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was enough of a nerd to figure out the seating arrangements at the Avengers' dinner table and [analyze my reasoning behind it](http://kadorienne.tumblr.com/post/43975542718/the-avengers-tower-seating-chart-in-the-stolen-relics), if anyone's interested.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hot dogs, popcorn and Star Trek with superheroes and Norse gods. Just another afternoon for Tony Stark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Grey Bard for betaing.

A couple of days after the gang had given Thor that talking to over pizza, Tony woke up around noon (he hadn't slept for nearly three days and then had suddenly collapsed) and wandered out of his room to find Loki and Steve in the kitchen, laughing at something as they made hot dogs together. Tony stopped where he was and stared at them for a minute until they noticed him.

"What's the matter, Tony?" Steve asked, abruptly looking nervous.

"I think I just woke up in a parallel universe. Any minute now an evil Superman is going to fly past the window."

The cheerful amusement fled from Loki's face, replaced by a wry half-smirk, and Tony suddenly felt like he'd just dumped cold water on a kitten. A mass murdering kitten who had tried to conquer a planet or two.

"I was in the middle of suborning Captain America and twisting him to my nefarious designs, so run along until I've finished converting him to evil."

Steve threw Loki the same kind of chiding glance he gave Tony when Tony... um, said pretty much anything, come to think of it. "You want a hot dog?"

"Um. Yeah, thanks." Tony rubbed the remaining sleep out of his eyes and went to the coffee maker. One of these days he would invent one that filled itself with water and coffee beans. Why hadn't he already done that? "Let me in on the joke?"

"Oh." Steve pushed a plate with a hot dog - well laden with everything, just how Tony liked it - over to Tony. He joined them on one of the high stools and started eating. "I was telling Loki about the war bonds circuit."

"A saga called _Mulan_ was on the television this morning," Loki explained, "and after the scene with the pole and the arrow, Rogers related a similar story from his own training." Loki was grinning now, his irritation with Tony forgotten. "Your super-soldier has unexpected depths."

"Thanks, I think." Steve sounded unruffled.

"Oh, you told him the flag story. Good on you: you've won the approval of the God of Mischief. Maybe we should keep a closer eye on you, Stars and Stripes."

"Tony," Steve scolded. Loki was concentrating on his hot dog now, putting tiny bits of assorted condiments on it to try them all. It was kind of amusing; he had the same kind of intent expression that he wore when they showed him how to use their Earthgardian lab equipment. He had probably looked that way a couple millenia ago when sex was new to him and he was trying different things to see what he liked, except more breathless and maybe kind of flushed and boy did Tony need to find a different subject to think about.

The coffee maker finished just then, giving Tony something to distract himself with. "You guys want any?" He poured three cups without waiting for an answer. 

Loki took his and peered into the cup like a fortune teller contemplating tea leaves. He inhaled its aroma and regarded it thoughtfully.

"Oh. You haven't had coffee before, have you? You can put stuff in it, you know. Cream, sugar, cinnamon, mustard...."

"He's kidding you," Steve said. "No one puts mustard in coffee."

"Oh, that's right, it was only in the 70's that mustard coffee became popular. After your time. Shaun Cassidy told a reporter that he liked it and suddenly it was all the rage."

Steve looked at Loki. "I'm sure he's making that up."

"Steve, you just blew a chance to prank the God of Mischief."

Loki only smiled, put four - _four,_ eww - spoonfuls of sugar into his cup and a generous dollop of cream, then held one hand over it. A second later it was iced coffee.

"Now that would come in handy when you don't have room in your fridge for beer," Tony stated. He couldn't help staring. By now he had seen Loki do a lot of tricks down in the lab, with every kind of equipment Tony could think of trying to capture how he did it (with very little success so far), but it was still fascinating every time. "Sorry, I shoulda realized you wouldn't like hot drinks."

Loki took a sip of the coffee and considered it. Apparently he liked it because then he took a longer drink. "On Asgard, people often add spice to wine and warm it by the fire. It is very popular. I always hated wine prepared that way."

"Well, don't worry, we mostly get drunk on cold stuff here, Ice Man." Loki stiffened at the epithet, but Tony pretended not to notice. If they didn't tiptoe around Loki's species like it was something to be ashamed of - and how fucked up was it that his adoptive father had taught him to hate his own kind? - maybe he'd learn to deal. Or maybe he'd attempt to wipe out the human race, who knew. "You know what I hate that almost everyone else likes? Mint."

"You don't like mint?" Steve asked, surprised.

"Can't stand the stuff. Your turn, Cap. What do you hate that everyone else likes?"

Steve thought it over. "Cheesy popcorn," he said at last. "Popcorn should taste like popcorn. And butter and salt. Not cheese."

"You just don't like it 'cause you didn't have it in the 40's."

"I don't like it because it tastes weird."

"Well, guess what? We have here an impartial observer. Someone with no prior knowledge of popcorn - right?"

"It is a snack food, yes?" Loki asked from behind his cup of cold, oversweetened coffee.

Tony dug in the cupboards for microwave popcorn and got out one packet of butter flavor, one of cheese. "Thank goodness powerful beings have come here from the stars to grant us wise guidance about popcorn flavors."

"Has Stark always talked this much rot?" Loki asked Steve.

"Pretty much." They shared a chuckle, and Tony suddenly felt left out. Which was ridiculous, Steve might be enjoying Loki's company now that they had discovered they were both Bullying Survivors, but he wasn't going to put a former enemy above his own red-blooded American teammates. Or his own red-blooded Russian or Asgardian teammates, for that matter. Steve was true-blue. And true-red and true-white.

"That's it, laugh at the guy who's giving you popcorn." He took it out of the microwave and dumped it into bowls. Loki tried both flavors, impartially announced that cheese popcorn was an abomination, and ate so much of the butter flavored that Tony had to pop more.

They ended up introducing Loki to numerous junk foods before sitting down in front of the TV to finally get him started on _Star Trek._ (Tony thought it best to hold off on _Star Wars_ for a while; in his opinion, Loki didn't need to see that level of daddy issues dramatized on a big screen.) Now and then Tony looked at them: Captain America and a Norse god, sitting in his living room watching TV with him.

It turned into a marathon, with the other Avengers returning one by one from whatever they had been up to and joining them. Eventually they stopped in between episodes long enough to make sandwiches for supper and then ate in front of the tube. Tony caught Thor watching Loki a few times, with a smile at once so happy and so wistful that Tony wanted to hug him, or scritch him behind the ears.

About the third or fourth time, Loki suddenly glanced back at Thor, who was sitting a little behind him, and caught Thor giving him that look. Tony felt like he should look away, this was a private moment, but he just couldn't. 

The brothers just looked at each other for a moment. Tony had a feeling that an awful lot was happening in that look, more than he could see, and what he could see was a lot. Maybe you would have had to know them both for two thousand years to see all of it.

Eventually Loki passed his bag of Reese's Pieces to Thor, and Thor took it and smiled, and both of them went back to watching the show.

Nothing else happened that evening, except for everyone eventually deciding that it was time for bed and dispersing. 

When Tony went down to his workshop for the night, he thought that bringing Loki here would turn out to be either the smartest thing the Avengers had ever done, or else the most absolutely disastrous possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After writing the previous chapter, the one about pizza, I was enough of a nerd to [analyze the Avengers Tower dinner table seating arrangements](http://kadorienne.tumblr.com/post/43975542718/the-avengers-tower-seating-chart-in-the-stolen-relics), if anyone's interested.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Loki’s eyes lowered to Tony’s lips for a second, then met his. “We were enemies, Stark. Now we are barely allies.”_

When they first started with Magic 101 Tony was fairly scrupulous about keeping Bruce around to chaperone, but that didn't last long. Bruce kept regular hours, whereas Tony was a lifelong insomniac, and Loki shared Tony's habit of neglecting things like sleep and food when he got interested in something. Once, helping Tony with his anti-Leviathan missiles, Loki went without sleep and almost without food for three days. Knowing that Aesir - and Jotnar - were a hardy lot, Tony didn't try to put a stop to it until he noticed Loki's hand shaking as he worked with the displays Jarvis projected into the air.

"Hey, Loki, I think it's time for you to get some sleep."

"Yes." Loki continued his work without looking up.

"So you'll stop in a minute and go to bed? Maybe eat something first?"

"Yes, of course."

"And take a bath in red nail polish."

"Yes."

Loki's intent expression had not wavered in the least. It wasn't impossible that Loki was pranking him, but Tony was inclined to think he was concentrating too hard to take in what Tony was saying.

Loki's hands were still shaking, and his normally pale face was becoming faintly grey. 

"Um, Loki? Seriously, I think it's time for you to take a break. You're still recovering."

"Yes, of course," Loki said, and kept right on.

Tony thought this must be how Pepper had felt all these years.

"Jarvis, what time is it?" Tony asked. He supposed there must be a clock on one of the various computer monitors in the room, but why exhaust himself looking for one?

"Five fourteen p.m., sir."

"Daytime, then. Good. Where's Thor?"

"In the gymnasium, sir."

Tony went to him and explained the situation. "I thought you might have some ideas about how to tear him away from his work before he passes out on the floor. I'm guessing he's done this kind of thing before."

Thor grinned fondly. "Worry not, my friend. I know precisely how to get my brother to eat and sleep."

Tony led Thor to the lab and Thor leaned over Loki's shoulder. "It is time to come to dinner, brother."

"In a minute, Thor," Loki said absently. And there was the proof that Loki wasn't hearing them; he never let it pass when Thor called him "brother". Thor noticed too, and his eyes moistened. He put a hand on Loki's shoulder.

"Now, Loki," he said. "Mother said you have to come now."

That drew a deep resigned sigh from Loki. "Oh, very well," he said in a put-upon tone. And he withdrew his hands from the display, waved it away, and rose wearily.

In the kitchen, Thor swiftly heated a can of mushroom soup and set it in front of Loki, who ate it in a sort of daze, not seeming really aware of his surroundings. Clint, who had been raiding the fridge when they entered, hung around, idly curious. 

Halfway through the soup, Loki looked up and blinked around at the room. "What's Mother doing on Midgard?" 

All of them laughed. Loki looked bewildered for a second, then annoyed. "I will turn you all into toads," he muttered, bending his head over his soup again.

When he had finished it, he let Thor herd him to his bedroom without argument, still seeming scarcely aware of his surroundings.

The following morning, Loki came down to the lab early, while most of the others were still in bed (Tony hadn't gone to bed yet). "What did that oaf make me eat last night?" he asked, sounding as if he expected a dire reply.

"Just some mushroom soup," Tony assured him.

Disgust crossed Loki's face. "That insufferable brute. He knows I hate mushrooms."

"Next time I'm going to feed you cheese popcorn."

"Do that and I'll throw you out another window."

"Hah. You won't even know about it unless I confess. Which I won't; my mama didn't raise any fools."

Loki was at one of the consoles, summoning displays into the air. "Mine did. But it wasn't me."

Tony realized he had been gazing too long at Loki, who was especially beautiful when he was concentrating. Those green-blue eyes would gleam and Loki's lips would press together as for a while he forgot to manipulate and scheme and watch for someone to stick a verbal knife into him.

Gazing. Too long. Right. Not like Tony could be blamed. Loki was sex on legs - long, very well-shaped legs. But Tony had found the solution. Whenever Loki was in the same room as him, Tony talked science to him. They both enjoyed it, and Bruce enjoyed it too if he was around, and it made the blood go to Tony's brain instead of... other places. It was safe. Kept the wrong thoughts away. Mostly.

So now Tony started talking science. Soon they found themselves on the subject of his Iron Man suits, and then Loki was asking how he had built that first one, in a cave with no Jarvis and only what random equipment his captors had managed to get ahold of. And that - not the captivity, but the first suit - that was of course one of Tony's favorite subjects.

What Thor had been telling them all these years was apparently true, magic and science were one and the same. Loki had different terminology for the concepts they discussed, but they were the same concepts, only developed over millennia more than humans had been at it. 

But as Tony had been secretly pleased to find out, he had a few things to teach Loki as well. What with all the magic, Asgardians had skipped an awful lot of details that were the vital building blocks of human technology. There was no need to invent the steamboat when you had a rainbow wormhole between realms.

So the two of them spent hours in the lab together, talking about it, finding their way across realms to meet in the midst of electromagnetism and dark energy and Einstein-Rosen Bridges and Cosmic Cubes. 

Now Tony related the story of how he had built that first suit, of how he had jury-rigged equipment and drawn the blueprints on separate sheets of translucent paper so that the enemy would not grasp his design. Loki interrupted often with questions, which were progressively less about theory and more about how Tony had actually _done_ it.

And eventually Tony realized that now it was Loki staring at him, as if he'd never seen him before. As if he had never seen a human before, really.

Tony's voice trailed off. 

"I knew that building your first suit was an impressive achievement," Loki said after a moment, still staring at him, "but I had no idea just how impressive."

Tony got fawned on a lot. Fawning, he knew how to handle. A compliment like this, from someone who actually knew what they were talking about, that was a different story. He didn't get much practice for this kind of thing.

"Well," he said. "You know. Um."

"I have seen the machines you humans use to construct your buildings," Loki said, still gazing at Tony with unwavering intensity. "Building that suit without your robots, without your computers, and without magic, would be like building this tower without machines, with only your bare hands and a pile of bricks."

"Having robots and computers and magic will do you no good if you can't use them creatively," Tony said.

"Indeed." Loki's eyes were glittering, and still fixed on him. Tony swallowed. He needed to say something. Or look away. Or run out of the room. Instead he stayed where he was, in the grip of a hunger like none he had ever felt before. Somewhere in the depths of his mind, he made his decision. And lifted his chin, letting challenge come into his gaze.

And Loki saw it. He stepped closer, green eyes boring into Tony's, and cupped Tony's face with his long-fingered, elegant hands. Tony forgot how to breathe, which was just as well because a second later he was too busy being kissed to waste any energy on breathing.

Loki kissed like a conqueror. Like he was staking a claim, like he wanted to absorb everything about Tony and keep it forever. Like he was claiming his rightful throne.

Tony buried his hands in Loki's long raven hair, claimed Loki back just as fiercely. The fact was that if Tony Stark wanted something, he went after it. Asking himself if that was a wise course of action didn't generally fit into the equation. Now he had cast that question aside.

He was dimly aware that there was some reason he hadn't already claimed the god of mischief as his own, but he couldn't for the life of him recall what that reason was.

He was dizzy and breathless when Loki finally released his mouth. Those green eyes were hazy, an intoxicating sight. Still, Loki set his jaw grimly and tried to step back. Tony refused to let go.

"I shouldn't have done that." Loki's voice was ragged.

"Don't I have anything to say about that?" Tony was looking at Loki's mouth. The long ferocious kiss had made it redder than usual, tantalizing. Tony resolved to kiss him again as soon as he could get him to bend back down. Sometimes being short was a pain.

Loki's eyes lowered to Tony's lips for a second, then met his. "We were enemies, Stark. Now we are barely allies."

All of that seemed very distant just now, with that brilliant brain just a few inches away, wrapped in a slim long-legged body and a chiseled face and silky black hair. Tony wanted the whole package. He wanted the magic, to watch things that broke the laws of the universe and bring them back into the bounds of those laws. He wanted the crazed look in those green-blue eyes, the hunger and the terror he knew only too well. He wanted the power leashed in that tall, lean body.

He wanted that tall, lean body.

Tony let his fingers trail down from Loki's hair to his neck, a carefully light, soothing touch, even though what he wanted was to grab onto Loki and wrestle him to the ground. If it weren't for the superstrength, he would have tried it.

Instead, he pressed against Loki, feeling that warm firm body against his, the erection already hard against Tony's stomach. 

Holding Loki's glittering gaze, he breathed, "Loki. I want you."

He knew he had won even before Loki crushed their mouths together again.

They did nothing but kiss, over and over, for a long time. Tony hadn't just necked like that since he was a teenager. A _young_ teenager. Bit by bit, Loki's hands moved over him with a sure touch, and Tony figured that was permission for him to do the same, and he'd been wanting to get his hands on that lanky body for a long time now. 

Loki's fingertips ghosted over Tony's stomach and then gently tugged his black T-shirt out of the waistband of his sweatpants. The next thing, those long fingers were on his skin, sliding under his shirt up to his chest, and that light touch was fucking _electric._

When he had the presence of mind to do it, Tony retaliated in kind, fastening his mouth to Loki's neck while he started unbuttoning his shirt, pressing his lips to each inch of skin as he revealed it. By the time he was halfway down Loki's ribcage the god was actually _trembling_ , and Tony would be lying if he said that didn't make him smug.

When he reached for the zipper of Loki's trousers, Loki finally gripped his upper arms and held him away. Panting a little, Tony looked at Loki and oh all the Norse gods in Valhalla, the sight was devastating. Loki was shaking, he looked half wrecked already, and there was absolutely nothing on his face but _want_. Green eyes dark with lust flickered over Tony, and Loki's lip curled, baring his teeth in a feral expression of desire that took Tony's breath away.

Tony leaned closer against Loki's grip, and then he was right up against Loki again, those frighteningly strong arms around him. Loki tugged on Tony's hair very lightly, just enough to pull Tony's head back for another long knee-melting kiss, while Tony pressed himself against Loki, hard.

When the kiss eventually ended, Tony gasped, "There's a futon, over on the other side of that table...."

Perplexity showed in those glittering eyes for a second, probably Loki didn't know what a futon was, but he could probably make a pretty good guess from the context, because the next second he was steering Tony over there with a steely grip on the back of his neck.

Pepper had had it put there, years ago, in the hope that sometimes when he'd been working for 24 straight hours Tony might lie down on it and actually sleep. Which he did, on very rare occasions. Now before he could lie down on it on his own Loki was lowering him onto it, cradling Tony's head in the crook of his elbow and kissing him breathless again. Not that Tony was complaining, except that they were still wearing too many clothes.

An impediment that Loki was currently dealing with quite effectively, stripping them both and awakening every inch of Tony's skin. And every time their lips parted, Tony found himself drowning in green eyes blazing out of a flushed angular face.

For one second, Tony found himself remembering the first time, long ago, that he'd gone to bed with someone experienced and skilled. Instead of another fumbling teenager like himself, he had been in the hands of someone who knew how to take the reins and direct the action with ease. At the time it had felt like a revelation, being guided so masterfully through his own pleasure. 

Since then it had become Tony who took the lead, easily and naturally, enjoying the moment when his lovers relaxed and let him steer, relishing their amazement as he showed them just how much pleasure they were capable of experiencing.

Tony had almost forgotten what it felt like, being on the receiving end of that. Now - well, there was a definite benefit to a partner with hundreds of years of practice.

Not that he was going to let Loki do all the doing. Every few minutes the daze would clear from his head just a little and he would stop just lying back and moaning and writhing and make Loki do some moaning and writhing of his own. He remembered the imposing figure in green and black leather striding toward him that day in Stark Tower, exuding menace, and derived no small amount of satisfaction from pulling little whimpers from the bared throat of the invader who had once tossed him through a window.

Loki didn't have tentacles. Naked Asgardians looked pretty much like naked humans. Worked the same, too; Tony went for the sensitive areas he had learned to stimulate with human lovers and the results were highly satisfactory. Satisfactory for the short time he was allowed to play before Loki shoved him onto his back and pinned him down.

Loki spent a _very_ long time on Tony's nipples, hypnotizing him with languorous caresses with his fingers and tongue, then abruptly shattering the trance with gentle bites or not-so-gentle pinches, remorselessly heightening the brutal sensations until Tony was digging his fingers helplessly into Loki's shoulders, then weaving a new trance, repeating the cycle until Tony thought he was going to come just from that.

He probably could have, but abruptly Loki started kissing a trail down Tony's stomach instead. Tony licked his lips, then parted them to speak. Before he could say anything, Loki lifted his head. "I have a rule for all of my lovers."

"Oh, yeah? I don't do that well following rules."

From between Tony's legs, Loki gave him a wide smile, all teeth, and that was equal parts terrifying and arousing. "My rule is, anyone who makes plays on words about my 'silver tongue' never gets to find out just how silver it really is."

"Aw, c'mon, I had a good one."

"Your joke or my tongue, Stark. Make your choice."

"I guess the jokes must've gotten old after a few centuries," Tony conceded. "And I do, very much, want to... find out." God, did he want to find out. "I also want you to use my name."

The manic smile eased off and Loki lifted an eyebrow. "Tony," he said, his tone experimental. And damn, but it was hot hearing that husky voice say his first name. Way hotter than it should have been.

"That's better. Okay. No jokes. No plays on words, however scintillatingly clever. No-" And then Tony shut up, because Loki was fulfilling his half of that bargain.

His tongue was very, _very_ silver.

When Tony's capacity to make plays on words - or words, period - had deserted him completely, Loki finally paused. Tony made a pleading little sound in his throat, but Loki was lifting himself onto an elbow and looking at him.

"So tell me, Stark - Tony," he amended, still teasing Tony's prick with his fingertips, "shall I finish you this way, or do you want me to fuck you?"

Words. Tony could make words, he used them all the time.

"Yes."

Loki's eyes narrowed a fraction.

"I want both. Both is good."

That got him another of those beautifully evil grins, and then Loki's mouth was engulfing him again, those strong hands gripping his hips, and it wasn't long before his vision went white. Loki swallowed around him, claiming one more piece of him, and Tony could only lie there, his limbs boneless while he tried to remember how to breathe.

Loki looked very satisfied, and still all feral and craving, and smug. It wasn't a bad look on him. Tony reached up and tugged his head down for a nice sloppy kiss. "I'd say I made the right choice," Tony said then. "My joke wasn't nearly good enough to miss that."

Loki showed his teeth again. "They never are."

Tony took advantage of the pause to explore Loki's body some more, and Loki didn't object. Loki's skin was very pale, almost delicate. He didn't have much muscle, but then, he had spent the past four years in dungeons. Now he could bulk back up, with food and exercise, both of which Tony would happily provide. But that thought was perilously close to contemplating the future, which Tony wasn't about to do right now, not when the present was so incredibly awesome, what with the hot guy with a sizable hard-on lying beside him and all. 

Tony showed off his own skills while he had the chance. He might not have centuries of practice, but he was capable enough to make the god of mischief squirm. Enough to make said god of mischief suddenly growl and impatiently shove him back onto the futon and position himself between Tony's legs once more. And Tony was getting hard again already, and discovering that another benefit to sex with a sorcerer was that you didn't need to get up to rummage for lube. And yeah, Loki's expertise extended to this too, because he was making Tony ready for his use methodically, and doing such a good job of it that Tony couldn't even resent the impersonal skill because it felt so fucking good.

"Loki," he rasped, reaching to tangle his fingers in long black hair, that being the only bit of Loki he could effectively reach. "Come on. Fuck me. _Now._ "

And damn, there was nothing impersonal about the green fire in Loki's eyes when Tony said that, or the rough kiss Loki claimed before positioning himself. Then Loki was piercing him, and he knew just how to hit that _spot_ , got it perfect the first stroke, and Tony's brain shut down again. He wrapped his legs around Loki, trying to push him deeper, but superstrength, right, Loki was definitely the one driving here, but that was fine because his goal seemed to be to drive Tony completely out of his mind and that was Tony's goal just now too, so it was all good. Tony clamped one arm around Loki's shoulders, kept the fingers of his other in that silky raven hair, and Loki's eyes bored into his even as their hips snapped together over and over.

"Loki," Tony groaned, and Loki seemed to like hearing his name, so Tony said it again, and again, while his bones were turning to jelly and heat was pooling in his belly and it was a good thing that oxygen was apparently finding its way into his lungs on its own because he didn't have the capacity to actually inhale.

"Stark," Loki hissed into his ear, now looking almost in pain.

"My name," Tony insisted, clamping down on him with his inner muscles, tightening his arms and legs around him.

It had its effect. " _Tony,_ " Loki groaned, and the word seemed to unleash something in him, because only seconds later he was convulsing in Tony's embrace, and seeing his expression as he came apart, suddenly helpless and yearning and almost afraid, sent Tony over the edge too, long before Tony would have thought he'd be ready.

And God, how Tony envied everyone else who had ever seen that look on Loki's face.

It took them both a long time to catch their breath, both lying on their backs staring dazed at the ceiling. Tony thought he felt the exact second that both of them returned to sanity. It felt almost like the temperature in the room had plummeted. And here he was, lying naked and sweaty with the seed of Earth's would-be conqueror dripping between his legs.

He sneaked a tiny glance at Loki, who was looking grimly at nothing. He was still comparatively relaxed from the sex, and it made him look younger. More vulnerable. And this was just as much a part of Loki as the dangerous invader capable of running people through and throwing them off of skyscrapers: the heartbroken son and brother of... of no one. And even if this was just sex to Loki, Tony was still now in a position to hurt him, to reject and humiliate him. 

Which he wouldn't, and not just because the reaction might involve a lot of bloodshed, starting with his own. He just wasn't that much of a jerk, even to supervillains - not that he'd laid a supervillain before. Still he had no idea how to handle this, what was the right thing to say now. This was one ill-advised lay he couldn't deal with by hiding in his workshop (for one thing, they were _in_ his workshop) while Pepper showed his latest partner the door.

He still didn't know what Loki wanted.

It was Loki who finally broke the silence. "Do you make a habit of lying with your enemies, Stark?"

"Only if you count journalists. Anyway, we're not enemies anymore. Unless you're planning on trying to conquer my planet again."

Loki sneered, but before he could say anything Jarvis spoke. Tony sat up, instantly alert. Jarvis had strict instructions for when Tony was getting laid. He didn't let anyone into the room to interrupt; he had a whole supply of excuses of varying degrees of transparency, and everybody in Tony's life learned quickly to take them at face value if they didn't want more information than they needed about what Tony was up to. And Jarvis wouldn't bother him during sex, or even during the not-so-golden afterglow, unless it was important. 

Very important.

"Sirs, I'm sorry to interrupt but Fury has called for the Avengers to assemble. Apparently a man with unidentified weapons is playing supervillain not far away."

This guy with the unidentified weapons had to be the most considerate supervillain in history. Tony pulled on his pants and shirt quickly, wishing he could wash but he didn't dare take the time. Loki was rising too, his clothes dissolving from the spot on the floor where they'd been dropped and reconstituting on his body. Handy trick, that. "We're on our way, Jarvis," Tony said, and they hurried for the elevator.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've spent the last two days writing this chapter. I hope you all appreciate what I endure for you.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Okay, we can discuss my sex life or we can beat up bad guys," Tony said.

When Tony and Loki reached the top floor, where all the Avenging stuff was kept, the other Avengers were already there, except for Clint who emerged from the other elevator about ten seconds later. All of them were still pulling on bits of their uniforms, except for Bruce, whose clothes were just going to be shredded anyway, and Thor, who wore his armor and cape pretty much all the time.

As usual there was a lot of hustle and bustle with them grabbing their gear and getting into the Quinjet, but it all came to a screeching halt when someone glanced Tony's way. Less than two seconds later all of them were staring at Tony, and at Loki beside him.

The pair stopped in their tracks at the stares, and Tony glanced at Loki, then took a better look.

_Oh, shit._

They were both fully clothed, but... Loki's long hair was disheveled in that particular way that announced that someone had been running their fingers through it. Tony found himself trying uselessly to smooth his own hair down, but it was kind of late for that. Loki's mouth was red and swollen from kissing and his pallid face was still slightly flushed, and Tony supposed he must be in the same condition. There was at least one little mark on Loki's neck, and... oh, hell, Loki had been all over his neck, Tony probably looked like a vampire had been gnawing on him. There was exactly no doubt whatsoever what the two of them had been doing.

Tony looked at Thor first, to see if he was going to hammer him for defiling his precious little brother - somehow Tony didn't think it would make much difference that it had actually been Thor's precious little brother defiling Tony. But Thor's attention was on Loki, and he looked more shocked than angry, so that was something.

Really, the only one who didn't just look amazed was Clint, who looked completely disgusted. Tony had probably lost a friend today. He knew he would be unhappy about that later, but right now he didn't have the time.

"Okay, we can discuss my sex life or we can beat up bad guys," Tony said as his robots applied his suit to him. That seemed to snap everyone out of it, and they all rapidly finished getting ready while Loki went to hole up in the ops room. 

"We're talking about this later," Steve warned as Tony headed for the takeoff deck. 

"About what? About the security risk of giving Loki access to my boxer shorts weeks after we've moved him into the _freaking building where we live and keep all our equipment?_ "

"Don't be ridiculous, Tony," Bruce said, climbing into the jet. "We all know you wear briefs."

"Bruce, you cad." Tony spoke into the suit's commlink as he activated the thrusters and soared into the air, Thor beside him. "To think I trusted you with my most intimate secrets."

"Actually, I read it in _People Magazine_."

So Bruce hadn't hulked out on seeing his walk of shame with their resident villain. And Thor hadn't hammered him (yet). This was actually going better than Tony would have expected, had he allowed himself to consider the possibility of bedding down with a former crazed alien conqueror.

Fury's voice sounded over Jarvis's voice system. "We've got a squad of security guards on their way to the Tower. They should be there inside a minute and a half." Tony grimaced. He had agreed to this after the break-in last time, it was good sense and he knew it, but he didn't like the idea of anyone else handling the Tower's security. He had strengthened the safeguards on the ground floor and really thought that should be enough. 

"Tell us what we're heading for, Loki." Cap's tone made Tony think of a harried schoolteacher trying to get rowdy kids to concentrate on boring work.

"There's a man in a puce mask and suit on the top of a building-" Loki began. 

Jarvis broke in. "That is Bazzini Morgue, sirs."

"Got it," Tony said. The footage was on the display in his helmet as well. "Puce is purple, right?"

"A dark and ugly shade of purple, yes. He's holding a staff of some sort - I fear I am unfamiliar with the finer points of Midgardian weapons," Loki confessed. "Jarvis, can you please show me what's going on in the surrounding area?"

"I'm guessing he made that thing himself," Tony said. 

"His weapon resembles no known weapons produced anywhere in the world," Jarvis confirmed.

Puce Man's lips were moving, the drearily familiar sight of a villain rant. "Jarvis, is our new playmate saying anything we need to hear?"

"The substance of it seems to be that his name is Magister Horus and he is the instrument of our doom."

"That's nice."

"Avengers!" Loki's tone was urgent now. "He is not alone. In the streets around the morgue, there are at least a hundred _draugar_. My guess is that the man in puce is controlling them."

" _Draugar?_ Loki, are you sure?" Thor asked. He sounded alarmed, which Tony took as a bad sign. He thought he had heard Loki use that term before, but he couldn't remember when.

"What the hell are _draugar_?" Clint demanded.

Loki began, "They are corpses animated by-"

"The closest translation would appear to be 'zombies'," Jarvis cut in.

"Tell me you're joking," Clint said.

Jarvis was sending a brief montage of the footage to Tony's helmet. "He isn't joking. Can't tell if they're faking or not, but they're definitely there."

Loki was speaking rapidly now. "You need me there. Thor, come back here to get me. I'll be waiting on the balcony."

"Loki, you are not yet recovered enough to-"

"There's no time!" Loki snapped. "This is magic, none of you can stop them. Come here for me _now_."

"Very well, brother." With that Thor was gone.

"Loki, put the portable headset on, we'll need to keep in contact with you." Tony was dubious, but he was kind of occupied with other things. He was now within sight of the building and could see people stampeding in the surrounding streets. 

Loki was still speaking swiftly into the commlink. "The _draugar_ will probably attack anyone they see, unless their master has other ideas, so concentrate on holding them back until I get there."

"How do we kill them?"

"You can't, they're already dead. Just immobilize them."

"If they bite us, do we turn into zombies?"

"Of course not." Loki sounded incredulous, as if that were the stupidest question he had ever heard, and Tony decided a _Living Dead_ marathon was in order. "Zombies are made by magically animating corpses. That's why he's doing this on top of a morgue."

Jarvis said, "The police are already aware and are beginning evacuation of the area."

"And why would they _bite_ you?" Loki was sarcastic. "They are not vampires."

Definitely a _Living Dead_ marathon. "All righty, then, how do we-"

Loki interrupted. Now his voice was at least half an octave higher than usual. _"They're eating people! Why does he have them eating people?"_

They sure were, Tony could see it on his helmet display. Cap and Tasha were already out of the jet punching dead people, and Clint was landing the jet right on top of a seething horde of them. Tony sent some blasts at a clump of them who were converging on a panicking young couple.

"You guys have frost giants, we have droggers that eat people." Maybe not the most tactful explanation Tony could make, but they were pressed for time and he figured it was one Loki would understand.

"You Midgardians are insane!"

Tony was almost chortling at how appalled Mr. You-Will-All-Fall-Before-Me sounded, but there was urgent business at hand. "How about we just go straight to the source." Tony swooped down to Magister Horus and let him have it with the blasters about half a second before Loki's yell of _"No!"_ reached his ears.

The force of the blasters rebounded onto Tony with interest, sending him somersaulting back through the air until he was able to regain control of his flight. "Ow," he remarked.

"Stark! Are you hurt?" 

It was Loki, sounding actually concerned. Go figure. "I'm fine, get your godly butts out here."

Tony could hear Thor's _"I am here, brother"_ through Loki's commlink. Clint had found a vantage point where he could stand while he fired exploding arrows into zombies. Cap was decapitating a slew of them by hurling his shield like a frisbee, which at least meant they couldn't eat anybody. Bruce had hulked out and was smashing dead guys. Tony couldn't see Tasha at the moment, but if she needed help Jarvis would tell them. More police than Tony had known existed were trying to evacuate the civilians, but the civilians were, unsurprisingly, flipping out at the sight of animated corpses lurching towards them. And frankly the cops weren't keeping their heads a whole lot cooler. "Jarvis, contact the police, tell them what Loki told us about them," Tony ordered. Maybe they'd freak out less if they knew it wasn't contagious.

"We're on our way. All of you, stay away from that lunatic. If you knock him out or kill him the _draugar_ will run wild without him to control them. Even if you succeeded in seizing his amulet, you would not know how to use it." The command in Loki's voice abruptly reminded Tony that their guest slash prisoner slash refugee had been a prince. He confirmed that a second later by adding, "You humans concentrate on protecting the commoners."

Tony didn't even try not to snicker at that, even as he swooped back down to break some undead bones. Most of these people had been getting embalmed, some of them were naked with their guts hanging out, others already dressed in their Sunday best for eternity. Their families were going to be pretty cut up about this.

Magister Horus apparently decided it was time to make things more interesting by using his staff to send bolts of energy down at the Avengers. The first of them got Tony before he could dodge and the impact jarred him unpleasantly. Then Cap was there, leaping to block the barrage with his shield, deflecting it onto the zombies when he could. 

"Stay, Thor, I need you," Loki was ordering. Tony was too occupied with the zombies - there were a lot of them, and the few living people still around were scared out of their minds - to ask, but Jarvis anticipated him and put a small image of the Norse gods onto one of Tony's screens. They were confronting Magister Horus. Loki was now wearing ominous-looking black robes, plus a knight's helmet complete with faceplate - Tony assumed the costume was an illusion. And a good one, on a movie screen he would have been instantly identifiable as an evil sorcerer.

Most of Tony's attention was on blowing up the walking dead and sometimes carrying a fleeing "commoner" to safety, but when he was able to spare a scrap of attention he could see Loki and Horus hurling magic lightning at each other. Horus's magic bolts seemed to be coming from his staff, while Loki's were coming right from his own hands, and Tony remembered Loki explaining that human bodies weren't good for channeling magic. Thor was standing beside Loki, blocking some of the magic bolts with Mjölnir, calling down lightning to zap the guy - who put out some kind of forcefield with his magic stick that blocked the lightning.

"Forgive me if this is an inopportune time, sir," Jarvis cut in, polite as you please, "but Avengers Tower has been breached."

" _What?_ "

"From what the cameras picked up, it seems that several of SHIELD's operatives turned on their comrades and shot them. They were then joined by strangers who were able to override-"

"They're inside?"

"Yes, sir."

"Can you guys manage without me?"

"Go," Natasha said, right before launching herself into the air and Xena-kicking a tall pasty zombie.

"RAAAAAAAAAR," Bruce agreed.

Tony sped back to the Tower. Back to his beacon of sustainable energy - the gift to the world he hoped would make up for all the death he had brought to it. Back to his _home_ , to the place where everything that mattered to him was. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another update tomorrow!


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zombies in the street, moles in SHIELD, intruders in the Tower. Definitely the time for a brother-to-brother talk about dallying with mortals.

"Thor, go with Stark," Loki ordered, unleashing another torrent of magic at the mortal sorcerer. He still had not fully recovered from the years of torture, he was not yet back to full power, but still it was exhilarating to be fighting with his own true weapon again.

"I will not leave you, brother." Thor was planted stubbornly at his side, hammer at the ready.

"I can handle one mortal with a magic wand, Thor. Stark is headed right for an ambush. Do you think they are not prepared for him? Go."

"Loki-"

Loki shook the headset off, letting it fall to the ground. This was not for any other ears. Then he shot Thor a tense, pleading look. "Thor - I love him. _Please._ " He spoke through clenched teeth.

Thor shot him a stricken look before obeying. Loki put his attention back on the aspiring sorcerer before him, mentally shaking his head. Thor was still so easy to manipulate. The simplest of sentimental lies was all it took. 

Loki shielded himself from the staff's next blast, trying to capture some of its energy as it dissipated. All Magister Horus had was the staff and the amulet around his neck. He had learned to use them, though. Loki had believed this knowledge lost to Midgard. Where the man had learned it would bear investigation, later.

Loki's eyes focused on the mortal's face. Horus was jubilant, drunk on the power he was wielding. He felt that he was contending with gods - even though he did not know that he _was_. He was like a young warrior who has just learned to use a weapon and believes that it has made him invulnerable.

A fool.

 

The people who were breaking into the Tower were ready for Tony. They had _missiles._

Small missiles, fired from shoulder cannons, but certainly big enough to kill half a dozen humans. Tony had to expend his own missiles from his suit to blow them up before they reached him.

"Those appear to be old Stark Industries Hornets, sir," Jarvis announced, and Tony felt a highly inconvenient sinking in his stomach. His past would never stop haunting him, no matter what he did. And whoever was breaking into his Tower knew that. This was psychological warfare as well as the more straightforward kind.

He was down to two missiles when a flash of red rushed past him, which then resolved itself into the very welcome sight of a huge blond guy smashing a missile in midair before it could reach him. "I will handle the missiles, Tony," Thor said, hurling his hammer at another pair of them which were careening towards them. They made a nice big boom. "You stop the men in our Tower."

Even as he obliged, Tony demanded, "You left Loki on his own?"

Thor shot him a sharp look as he caught his hammer and then flung it at another missile. "He is equal to the task."

Tony hoped that Thor was right as he flew into the building. Whatever this was, clearly the intention had been to split the Avengers up. And they didn't seem to be underestimating the team.

There were a lot of them inside. And they were well armed. Who the hell were these people, that they had weapons like this? "Jarvis, does Fury know what's going on here? Has he called in the Marines or something?"

"Backup is on its way, sir," Jarvis replied. Which would have been reassuring if the next words hadn't been, "Intruders have breached the third laboratory level."

In other words, the level they least wanted intruders on. 

"Too bad this wasn't just a zombie apocalypse," Tony muttered, turning and flying back out. "Thor, we got a nail up here." That had long been the team's slang for a task for Mjölnir.

Thor smashed a couple more missiles and the two of them flew to the floor in question, and Tony showed him where to punch a hole. He had made the laboratory floors virtually impregnable from the outside, but also had noted just where Thor could hammer his way through without busting anything inside, just in case he needed to. Not that Tony had believed it would ever happen.

A few swings of the magic hammer and the two of them were able to race inside amidst a shower of rubble, just in time to see several men in black SHIELD uniforms standing in a circle of linked arms, two of them holding some sort of apparatus, inside of which was....

"Oh shit," Tony said.

Thor flung himself forward when he saw, but it was too late. The intruders had activated the Tesseract and all of them vanished in a flash of blue.

 

Had Loki been at full power, he could have simply overpowered the staff, though it was a formidable one. Since he was not, the best course was to prey on the mortal's ignorance. He allowed his limbs to shake, backed up a staggering step, two steps. He sent a weaker blast of magic at Horus and savored the overconfident grin that spread across the man's face.

They had already established a pattern, taking turns blasting each other and shielding themselves. The mortal probably thought it was impossible to do both at once. So Loki threw up a force field to protect himself - and abruptly transformed it into a full-powered attack, not on Horus himself but on his wand, thrusting its magic back into it, following it with a deluge of his own, carefully aimed to burst through the wand's seals that prevented its power from rebounding onto the wielder.

The mortal's body convulsed as magic poured into it. Human bodies were not suitable conductors for magic. Loki recalled that Midgardians these days preferred not to kill their enemies; a foolish sentiment, but one from which he had benefited, so it would not be seemly to scorn it now. Accordingly he called the magic back into the wand, back into himself, while the mortal still lived. Horus lay twitching on the ground, unconscious. Probably his mind would never entirely recover, but humans who dabbled in power beyond their ken could expect nothing else.

Allowing his illusory costume to fade away, Loki leaned over Magister Horus and plucked the amulet from his unmoving neck. He cupped it in his hands, exploring. It took only a few seconds to find the outlines of its magic, to direct it. He had never done this spell before, but he knew the theory.

Cries of astonishment came to him from the ground below and Loki realized that the humans needed to be alerted to what he had done. Normally levitating objects was a difficult feat, but Loki was buzzing with what he had taken from the staff. His hands still on the amulet, he floated the headset back onto his head and spoke into it. 

"Avengers, I have the amulet. The _draugar_ are no more threat. I have bid those who can still walk to return to the morgue from whence they came. Then I shall deanimate them all. Go to the Tower and help Stark."

"We don't take orders from you." Barton, of course. And in the heat of battle Loki had forgotten that he was no longer a prince. And that Midgard no longer esteemed princes.

"True, but he's right, if the zombies aren't a threat anymore we do have to help Tony," Rogers replied. Loki refrained from commenting. "Loki, do you need backup?"

"No. But the deanimating spell will take some time."

"Police will be on the roof to take the culprit into custody shortly, sir," Jarvis assured him. "They have been informed that you are a SHIELD operative and must be allowed to finish what you are doing."

"Thank you, Jarvis," Loki said automatically. He sat crosslegged on the ground, the amulet in his hands, and sent his seiðr into it.

 

Thor and Tony were still standing there fuming when Steve's voice sounded through the commlink. "Guys, Loki has the zombies under his control." Now there was the least reassuring sentence in the history of ever. "We're on our way to help you. What's going on?"

"The bad guys got away. There may still be some henchmen hanging around, we'll want help catching them." Tony fired up his thrusters and let Thor lead the way back out and down to the ground to look for stragglers. "Jarvis, make sure the police do an APB thing."

"They _got away?"_ Rogers was incredulous. "How the heck could they do that?"

"Not answering that on the commlink." Tony was fairly sure it was secure, but the way this day was going....

 

The human soldiers in blue looked at Loki warily as they collected Magister Horus, but left him alone. Loki was almost entranced, concentrating as he was on unweaving the amulet's spell. Matching theory to practice was never as simple as it should be, and he lost track of time as he unravelled it.

When at last he knew he had released the false life from the _draugar_ , he let the amulet fall to the rooftop and slumped for a moment.

"Are you well, brother?"

It was Thor, looking as if he had been standing there watching him for some time. Loki sighed. "I am too weary for this argument now, Thor. Tell your friends that I have laid the _draugar_ to rest." Thor obliged, keeping a watchful eye on him. Groaning softly, Loki got to his feet, clutching the wand. Thor reached to help him, but Loki was already standing.

He drew a breath and pointed the staff at the amulet. A ray shot from the staff and a moment later the amulet was smithereens. For good measure Loki kept the staff going for several more seconds. Only a trained sorcerer would understand that he was siphoning its power out and into himself, replenishing his own seiðr. Stark might suspect, he was clever and was intelligently suspicious of Loki, but he would not be certain.

When the staff was empty of magic, he bent to gather up the pieces of the amulet. Thor helped. "I could have destroyed it with Mjölnir," he pointed out.

"I had to destroy the staff as well," Loki lied. "Your friends would not have allowed me to keep it, and we cannot have such things lying about on Midgard for humans like Magister Horus to meddle with."

"Is the magic gone from them?" When Loki nodded, Thor asked, "Then why must we gather these?"

"Stark will want to play with them. He will learn nothing from them, but he must find that out for himself to be satisfied."

Thor was looking at him, and abruptly Loki remembered the lie he had told to persuade Thor to return to the Tower. Damn.

"Loki, what you said about Tony. Is it true?"

"No."

Thor sighed as he continued gathering tiny pieces of amulet. "This is an unwise dalliance, brother."

"I am neither wise nor your brother." Loki winced as he said the words. He said them every time Thor claimed their old false kinship. He did not enjoy saying it. It tore him apart inside a little every time. The hurt on Thor's face gave him no pleasure.

But Loki was playing a long game. The stakes were revenge and survival, and the brother of the prince of Asgard could not have the latter. 

Thor did not understand. But he would. 

"You will always be my brother. Why did you not tell me?"

Loki sat back on his heels and glared at Thor. "Am I now required to report my lovers to you?"

"How long has this been going on?"

"Nothing has been going on. We had one tumble this morning. That is all. Had the zombie master not been so unfortunately timed, no one else would have ever known of it."

"You should not have done that."

"You deem me unfit for your friends?" Loki snapped.

"I am _concerned_ about you, Loki. He is a mortal."

Loki recalled the fine lines around Tony's eyes, the dusting of white hairs among the brown, and he shuddered. That such a mind should be doomed to a mere human lifespan was monstrous.

Loki took no time at all to make his mind up about _that._ He could not keep Stark for himself, of course, but he was not letting Thanos's sweetheart have the man. He added a detail to his grand scheme, the one that would destroy those who had tortured him. The one which was now endangered, if this dalliance turned all of his rescuers against him.

Thor was speaking again. "You have... had enough heartbreak, the last few years. I had rather not see you getting attached to someone who is going to die in a few decades."

"Who said anything about attached? It was just a bit of fun."

"That is how it always begins, with you."

Loki resumed gathering the metal bits with a shrug. "I said that about him to make you go to the Tower to protect it instead of mother-henning me when I no longer required your aid. Granted it was a poorly crafted lie, but I was pressed for time. When I tell the truth you regard me with unflagging skepticism. Why are you believing me _now?"_

"Why are you, a prince of Asgard, on your hands and knees picking up bits of useless metal that you know a mortal will wish to look at?"

Loki froze. Then stood, deliberately scattering the fragments of the talisman on the roof. He turned his back on Thor, facing in the direction of the Tower. "Let us return. I am weary."

"In a moment." Thor was still on all fours, picking up the fragments Loki had let fall. When he had them all, he tucked them away and stood, taking up the staff as well. "Loki, the people who broke into the Tower... they stole the Tesseract."

Loki whirled. "How did they escape?"

"Simple. They used it to transport themselves away."

This was bad for Midgard, and complicated Loki's plans as well. He scowled, trying to think.

"Loki, can you locate it with your seiðr?"

He sighed. "Yes, but the humans will not permit me to. I would have to use my old sceptre."

Thor frowned at him. "Truly?"

"Do you imagine I would allow unknown humans to flit about with a Cosmic Cube if I had any choice?" Loki shook his head. "Your friends will not allow me to find it, but they can likely find it themselves. Dr. Banner knows how to trace gamma radiation, which the Tesseract emits, and Agent Barton knows many places around this planet where such a relic can be shielded from Dr. Banner's machines. When I had him in my thrall, it was he who found us a secure hideaway."

They stood considering and weary for a moment before Thor held out his hand. Loki stepped closer, Thor put his arm around him and then the two of them were flying together back to Avengers Tower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Magister Horus's amulet was inspired by the [Amulets of Damballah](http://marvel.wikia.com/Amulets_of_Damballah) and his staff by the [Wand of Watoomb](http://marvel.wikia.com/Wand_of_Watoomb).


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back at Avengers Tower, everyone gives Tony their opinions on whether he should keep banging Loki. Everyone except for Loki.
> 
> Loki does, however, have a gambit of his own to reconcile them all.

Fury himself came to the Tower when the search for accomplices to the break-in was finally called off. A few had been caught and were in custody awaiting questioning. The Avengers and Loki collapsed around the common room of the Tower, which felt much less secure now than it had that morning. Tony made sure he was on the opposite side of the room from Loki. Just until they had a chance to... to talk. To figure out where this was going. If anywhere.

Fury was as grim and exhausted as any of them. An actual zombie outbreak had naturally inspired more than a little panic and every news outlet was running the same footage of various officials and scientists over and over, trying to reassure the public that the zombies had not been caused by a contagious virus. 

SHIELD had been infiltrated. The operatives who had turned on their comrades today had invested years in earning their security clearances. Whoever was behind this was powerful and patient, and commanded loyal minions. 

That was very bad news.

Loki was slouched on a sofa, legs splayed. "You did not tell Earth's journalists that I was in Midgard, correct?" he asked almost as soon as Fury strode in.

"Hell, no. People have enough to panic about these days."

"And I gather not everyone at SHIELD knew, either."

"Does this have a point?"

"You will need to scrutinize your forces for more potential traitors. These infiltrators probably knew that I am here."

Fury scowled. "What makes you say that?"

"The last distraction they used was a technological one, with weapons you humans understand well. Today's distraction was a magical one. It is probable that it was chosen to compel me to leave the Tower as well as the Avengers."

Fury sat down and drummed his fingers on a tabletop. 

"How do we know you didn't orchestrate the whole thing?" Clint demanded.

Loki's eyes flitted to him. "Because I have not been out of the sight of Jarvis and the Avengers since coming to Midgard?"

"Bull. With your powers you must have all kinds of ways of getting around that."

"If I had, I would not have spent the past four years in torture chambers."

"Loki could be right, though," Fury mused. "That the zombie master was there to keep him busy. Whoever's behind this, they're pulling out the family silver."

"Do we have any idea who it is?" Steve asked.

"We will soon."

Loki wasn't finished. "There cannot be many humans with knowledge of how to use the Tesseract, or the amulet and staff 'Magister Horus' was using. That fool could not have acquired the knowledge or the relics himself; he was far too overconfident with them, like a child with a new toy. Someone gave them to him, just as 'The Cleanser' was given his weapons. If you can trace this knowledge, you will likely find your culprits."

"Not many people knew anything about the Tesseract," Steve said. "There was HYDRA, and the monks who hid the cube for centuries until HYDRA took it from them." He looked at Fury. "You said HYDRA's gone, right?"

Fury took a long time to answer. Long enough that everyone in the room roused themselves enough to look at him.

"We thought it was," Fury said at last.

Steve lifted his chin. It was always strange and a little funny, seeing grim determination on that boyish face, but Tony knew that a determined Steve was a force to be reckoned with.

Fury rubbed a hand over his eyes. "I'll choose some agents I trust to see if there's anything left of Hydra. Maybe the grandsons of some of them, living in Argentina or somewhere.... I'll look into it." He glared at Tony. "We shouldn't have let you guys guard the cube."

"After what happened the last time SHIELD had it?" Tony threw a pointed glance at Loki, who smiled wryly. "And let me remind you that it was moles in SHIELD who broke in and stole it today. It was the alien space wizard _we_ insisted on importing who stopped the zombie horde."

"Loki tells me that he can find the Tesseract," Thor stated. Loki shot him an annoyed look.

"I also told him that you humans would not allow me to do so. I would have to use my old sceptre, and in your place, I certainly would not allow me anywhere near it. Besides, you can probably find it yourselves, it will just take you a little longer."

Tony was sitting forward. "Are you sure you can find it?"

" _No,_ Stark." That was Fury.

"No, listen, it's worth a shot." Plans were already forming in Tony's mind. "Thor and I will supervise. I'm immune to the sceptre thanks to this mini-Tesseract in my chest," he tapped the arc reactor, "and if Loki does anything hinky Thor can-"

"NO." Fury's death glare would have stopped anyone with sense.

"C'mon," Tony said, in a reasonable tone. "Whoever took it is obviously an evil sorcerer. Isn't it better for the cube to be in the hands of _our_ evil sorcerer?"

"My brother is not evil."

"He is also not your brother," Loki said.

"I suppose," Fury growled at Tony, "you're going to say he's also not your boyfriend."

A heavy silence fell. Tony and Clint shared an unfriendly look. "I guess you had to tell him," Tony admitted after a minute, grudgingly. To Fury he said, "'Boyfriend' is kind of premature."

"So who's honeypotting who?" Fury asked.

Tony and Loki locked eyes for a second. Loki's expression was guarded. "I... don't know," Tony admitted.

Natasha snorted. "Amateurs."

"Just what in the fucking hell do you think you're doing, Stark? Have you forgotten what he _is?"_ Fury jabbed a finger in Loki's direction. "What he's _done?_ Have you forgotten how many people were killed by his Chitauri?"

"He _threw you out a window."_ Clint was on his feet now, glowering at Tony. "He turned me into his fucking Renfield. He tried to kill his own brother!"

Tony made himself look Clint in the eye. "I haven't forgotten any of it."

"So what the hell are you doing? You think you can fuck the evil out of him?"

"Even I'm not conceited enough to think that sex with me cures evil."

"Nice to know there are limits to your ego." Fury turned his head. "Dr. Banner?"

Bruce was at the elevator. "I need to go to the basement for a while."

Tony twisted in his chair to look at Bruce, finally feeling a bit of real remorse. "Bruce, bro, I'm sorry."

Bruce turned his head a little, gave him a tiny smile. His breath was carefully even. "We're cool, Tony. It's the infighting the other guy doesn't like."

Everyone was quiet until the elevator took Bruce away. "I think if Bruce can deal, the rest of you can," Tony said. "And my dick is officially not under SHIELD jurisdiction."

"Your dick isn't the issue. Getting friendly with a _war criminal_ is."

"Look, what the hell. He's already living here. He's a powerful sorcerer. He knows where we sleep. He's fighting bad guys with us. What does he have access to now that he didn't before? You want me to actually answer that?"

"You know why that kind of thing's against regulations. You get emotionally involved, your judgment goes out the window-"

Tony stood up, letting his eyes go cold. "I'm not some starry-eyed baby SHIELD agent on his first big mission. I'm Tony Fucking Stark, so many notches on my bedpost that there's no bedpost left. I'm not going to lose my head just because our resident villain is a good lay."

"Gee, that's really comforting. Is that why you brought him here?" Fury demanded. "You have a thing for getting thrown out of windows? There's people who can provide that kind of service, you know."

"If you expect me to have any shame about what I do in the boudoir, Nick, you're several decades too late. Or are you just jealous that I've laid a divinity and you haven't? Want me to ask him if you can join us the next time I'm applying chocolate syrup and whipped cream to the god of mischief?"

"You are one sick motherfucker."

"That's deity-fucker to you, Nick. Or should I say alien-fucker?"

"At least your dad stuck to his own species."

"We all strive to surpass our fathers. I've got a god, a prince and an alien all in one. How many humans can claim that?"

"Forty-three," said Loki. 

"Forty-two," Thor said, awkward. Loki lifted an eyebrow at him.

"Damn. I guess I'll have to get creative in order to distinguish myself." Tony gave Loki a lecherous look. The corners of Loki's mouth twitched. The veins on Fury's head bulged. Clint looked utterly contemptuous. "Let's see, surely there must be some service no mortal has rendered you so far...."

That was when they really let loose. Fury called him a reckless idiot, at length. Clint called him a slut, also at length. Tony got pissed off and reminded them that without Stark funding the super-secret boy band would have been dead in the water - at length. Fury brought up just how that money had been made. Clint seconded the motion. 

"Then I'd say Loki and I deserve each other," Tony snapped. "Maybe I've got enough blood on my hands that I don't want to believe that anyone is beyond redemption. But of course a couple of squeaky-clean innocents like you wouldn't know anything about that, now would you? I mean, it's not like Clint has ever bedded down with anyone who's killed large numbers of innocent people." Natasha remained imperturbable at this, but Clint's face turned almost the color of Magister Horus's costume. And then Tony reminded Nick of Phase 2, and of an awful lot of other things he wasn't supposed to know about. Throughout it all, Steve tried uselessly to calm them down, Thor glowered, and Loki and Tasha both watched everything intently. 

Clint kept returning to the thesis that Tony was a man-whore, in terms increasingly uncomplimentary to Loki. Loki just listened, cool as a cuke (well, okay, frost giant), but Thor was getting more and more pissed off, until finally he couldn't take it anymore. He waved his hammer in Clint's and Fury's faces and started telling them off in magnificent Shakespearean terms. Loki just enjoyed the show for a couple of minutes before deciding it was time to intervene. He rose and put a hand on Thor's shoulder. Something about the gesture, maybe the way Thor just sort of paused mid-rant and waited to hear what his little brother would say, gave Tony the impression that this was a familiar routine for them. 

Kind of scary to think that Loki had been the cool-headed one in the family.

"Enough, Thor. They have every right to hate me. So do you, for that matter, but you have two thousand years of me being a loyal brother to countervail. They do not."

"You are acknowledging that we are brothers at last?" Thor was still busy glaring at Clint and Fury. He could not see the pain that moved over Loki's face.

"We believed we were." He turned to Clint and spoke formally. "Agent Barton. There is no way I can erase my crime against you. If there were, I would do it. Already I have placed myself at Midgard's service in defending your realm. Is there any price I might pay which would satisfy your need for vengeance?"

Clint's face was stony. "The only thing that would satisfy me would be putting an arrow through your eye socket."

Loki gave a nod. "And if you do, can there be peace between us? At least peace enough that you can forgive your shield-brother for lying with me?"

Clint blinked at him. "What, you're going to let me shoot you through the eye?" he asked, sarcastic.

"Certainly, if you will then consider the feud between us settled."

Everyone looked at Loki.

Loki glanced around at them all in mild surprise, then pursed his lips as if suddenly grasping what had confused them. Tony was pretty sure it was a show, but it was a good one. "Ah. It will not kill me. Sorry to disappoint. My species is difficult to kill, even more so when we are sorcerers. It will hurt a great deal, if that is any consolation."

"You're saying you can survive an arrow through your _brain."_ It was Steve, clearly not believing a word of it.

"Yes." Loki spoke with absolute certainty, as if he had just been asked if the sky was blue.

Clint gave his head a shake. "You'll let one of your clones take the arrow."

"Clones?" Loki considered the term. "Oh, you mean my illusory doubles? No, I will not. You may verify with your own hands that your arrow is actually in my physical body once you have fired the shot. But you must agree to consider justice satisfied by this deed before I will submit to it."

Clint looked like he'd just fallen down a rabbit hole. He turned to Thor. "Are you seriously going to let me shoot your little brother through the eye?"

"This is between you and Loki." Thor was strikingly calm for a guy whose brother was about to be shot. As everyone continued to stare at both of them, Thor explained, "You have all observed that I still have the habit of protecting my younger brother, and I never intend to break it. But to interfere in _holmgang_ would only be permissible if he had not yet reached man's estate. To do so would be to dishonor him and myself and the house of Odin."

"Well, Agent Barton?" Loki took a step so that no one was behind him. He put his arms at his side, hands spread. "Your arrow through my eye, in return for your sufferance of me and your forgiveness for Stark. Do you agree?"

Everyone stared at the Norse gods some more.

"Yeah. I agree." Clint picked up his bow, clearly expecting to be stopped at any moment.

Loki still looked completely calm, like he got shot through the eyeball all the time. Tony found himself stepping closer to him. "Loki? Are you sure you can survive this?"

"I have survived many similar injuries."

"You're shitting me."

"No. Indeed, the last few years have shown me that I can survive far more than I believed I could."

"What, the heat torture?"

"Among other things."

Thor frowned, and Tony noticed his hand tightening on his hammer, like he might have to pound somebody right this minute. "What other things?" 

Loki's lips thinned, very slightly, and finally he looked mildly perturbed. "When Thanos first caught me, I tried baiting him, tried to anger his henchman enough to make him lose his temper and kill me, since no other escape seemed possible." His mouth twisted and he pressed one hand to the side of his neck. Tony wondered if Loki was even conscious of that self-comforting gesture, or of its origins. It was the best proof Tony had seen that Loki actually did love his brother, whatever else he felt for him. "The actual result was that I - and they - discovered just how much damage I could experience without dying."

Tony went cold all over. "I take it that was a bad day," he said through numb lips.

Loki jerked his head in a single nod.

Thor, on the other hand, was incandescent. "I will kill them." 

Loki gave a shudder, then seemed to take hold of himself. He put his hand back down. "That is a score to settle another day. Today we have Agent Barton's score with me. Are you ready?"

Clint looked around at all of them. Fury and Natasha merely looked curious. Steve looked as appalled as Tony felt. "Clint, you can't do this!" 

"You heard my - Thor." Loki was holding Clint's gaze as he spoke. Thor looked a tiny bit gratified at Loki's near slip. "This is between Agent Barton and myself. I must settle my debt."

Steve started forward, but Thor held him back, his huge arm barely moving as Steve pulled against his grip. "Thor, you can't let him do this! Director Fury! Order Clint to stand down!"

"Why? I don't care if Loki gets killed."

Loki smiled slowly. "I commend your honesty, Director. And Captain, I do appreciate your concern, but I assure you that I will not be harmed. Merely hurt."

With slow and deliberate moves, Clint selected an arrow, raised his bow, and drew the string.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got the idea that the arc reactor is essentially a mini-Tesseract from [here](http://justinhammer.tumblr.com/post/38421217681/the-arc-reactor-element-tony-stark-creates-in-im2-and).


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint fires.

Loki wished that Barton would hurry up. This was going to hurt and he wanted to get it over with.

After an interminable few seconds, Barton did, finally, release the arrow, and Loki suppressed the reflex that wanted to reach up and catch it - one of the few things Odin had ever bothered to teach him.

The pain seared through him. Loki stumbled back a pace, but managed to keep his feet.

“Now, Agent Barton, come and verify that I have not cheated you of-“

The arrow exploded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, I just felt like I wasn't being evil enough. Another update tomorrow!
> 
> In reference to Odin teaching Loki to catch arrows in the air: in _Hávamál: The Sayings of Hár_ Odin says:
>
>> I know a fifth [charm]: no flying arrow,   
>  Aimed to bring harm to men,   
> Flies too fast for my fingers to catch it   
>  And hold it in mid-air.
> 
> It made me think of Loki catching Clint's arrow in _Avengers_. 


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki is shot. Tony figures out why he will not be Thor's brother again. Also, pizza and zombie movies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cackled so loud over all the comments I got over yesterday's cliffhanger that my roommate came in to see what was up. I'm afraid I enjoyed your suffering very, very much. *EG*

The blast flung Loki across the room and he collided painfully with the wall. Once he fell to the floor he lay still for a minute, swearing. Wrath blazed through him and the magic was crackling from his fingertips, ready to smite the insolent treacherous mortal who had _dared._

But he stopped himself before retaliating. This gambit required that he act remorseful, take the moral high ground, act noble and forgiving like Thor. Later he could-

No, he could not. No matter how much duress he had been under, still he had violated the mortal, in a way from which the man had no defense. 

Besides... it would upset Tony.

Tony compared Barton to an unpleasant bodily function as he ran to Loki's side. Thor reached Loki first and carefully helped him to sit up. Tony looked genuinely scared, and that made something twist inside Loki.

Damned sentiment.

"Stark, I suggest you bring me some sort of bandage if you do not want even more blood on your floor." Loki made sure to keep his voice very calm, as if he got shot through the head every day.

"Loki?" His eyes were wide and horrified. Loki felt a small twinge of regret; he should have realized that seeing his lover and a comrade-in-arms (if a probationary one) being shot right before him would have evoked harrowing memories for Tony.

"I am quite well, Stark. It will merely take a little longer to heal." Loki's gaze fell to the spray of red on the floor. "And make a bigger mess."

"My friend, that was the basest dishonor. My brother offered in good faith-"

"Clint, you asshole, I'm going to-"

"Stop." Loki held up a hand, and to his surprise they did. "The purpose of this was to placate Barton's anger that you, his shield-brother, lay with one who wronged him. Do not start a new feud so soon."

"You are fucking insane." Then Tony cut off whatever answer Loki would have made with a ferocious kiss, right in front of everyone. When Loki opened his good eye most of those present were averting their gazes, none of them looking particularly happy. Only Thor was still watching, looking as if he grieved for his younger brother's folly.

Rogers, red-faced, approached with bandages. Barton elbowed him aside. "One minute." The others watched in clear horror - except for Romanoff, whose expression was still one of detached interest, and Fury, who looked as if he did not find this an unpleasant spectacle - as Barton put his fingers to the bloody wound where Loki's eye had been. It hurt, of course. Loki endured it as stoically as he might. Satisfied, the blood still on his hands, Barton stood back for Rogers to help Loki bandage the eye.

"Will it grow back?" Rogers asked, tentative.

"From a wound of this nature? Of course."

"Good, we have enough one-eyed dudes around here." Tony had Loki's blood on his hands too, and a little on his mouth. "And by the way? I'm declaring a new house rule: no shooting my boyfriend."

A workable bandage was in place now. "Thank you, Captain." Loki stood, and was amused to find that Rogers, Tony and Thor all reached to help him. He evaded them all and stood tall, ignoring the throbbing pain in his head. "Now, it has been an eventful day. I suggest that we wash and order some food. I could eat a raw bilgesnipe."

Everyone looked rather dazed. Tony was the first to recover.

"I don't think they have bilgesnipe in our delivery area," he said, "but we'll come up with a workable substitute. Seeing as how you're the one who stopped the zombies and got shot through the head and all, I hereby decree that you get to pick the cuisine of the evening."

Loki hesitated. "Perhaps... Chinese food?"

"Not pizza?" 

Loki scanned the room, studying every face. "I... would like pizza, if... if it is agreeable to all of you."

Every one of them, even Barton, nodded agreement. Loki concealed his triumph. His gambit had worked. The unity of the team was restored. 

Everyone was now emotionally exhausted - always a good approach for defusing situations in which emotions were running too high. It was one Loki had used to divert Thor and Odin from many quarrels over the centuries. The humans now appeared quite calm. Jarvis announced that Banner had the Other Guy under control and would rejoin them if they could behave. Fury stated that he would talk further with them tomorrow and left. Tony had Jarvis place the pizza order and everyone dispersed to clean up. 

Conversation over pizza was about the sporting games which on Midgard had taken the place of tournaments. Rogers was a particular enthusiast of a game called "baseball" and did most of the talking. Not that there was very much talking; everyone was numb, and the Avengers did not seem to have much common ground in their sporting interests.

Still, they all ate pizza together. Tony gave Barton a couple of unfriendly glances. Barton looked quietly smug. The closest thing to an argument that occurred was a desultory debate over the merits of some athlete who half the people at the table had never heard of. Also, Thor gave the now-useless staff and amulet fragments to Tony, who thanked him and Loki for the "magic shrapnel". It was satisfactory.

Afterwards, Tony's proposal of a _Living Dead_ marathon was met with a distinct lack of enthusiasm. None of the humans wanted to watch movie zombies mere hours after fighting real ones. Thor seemed similarly disinclined. Loki, on the other hand, was intrigued by Midgard's deranged notions of _draugar_ , so after pizza he and Tony settled down in front of the television while the others went to their respective rooms. Thor hesitated, looking at the two of them. Defiant, Loki slipped his arm around Tony's shoulders. If he gave Stark up, it would not be because anyone instructed him to. Thor gave them a grave look before continuing to his own room, resigned.

Tony relaxed easily against Loki, unresisting. "Hey, uh... is Thor going to challenge me to a duel or something?"

By the Norns, now what? "Why would he? What have you done?"

"Sullied his little brother. Remember? You were there."

"Sullying? Is that what you humans call it these days?" Tony's reply was a grin. "And is challenging one's brother's lovers a custom on Midgard?"

"Uh, not exactly. Certainly not these days. But Thor's always so overprotective. Except when you offer to let people shoot you. I still cannot fucking believe you did that. Don't make a habit of that, okay?"

Loki found himself just gazing into those dark brown eyes like a sentimental idiot. He reminded himself that this was a bad idea, and remembered Tony defying everyone who mattered in his life to claim Loki as his lover, and found himself kissing the infuriating mortal.

"We should stop this," Loki said when their lips parted.

"Probably," Tony agreed, not moving the slightest fraction away. "Too bad for you that I just overpowered you and swept you off your feet." 

They kissed a little longer, but both were too tired for more, so eventually Tony started the movie, _Night of the Living Dead_. As the movie progressed they emptied an entire bottle of whiskey between them; it eased the pain in Loki's eye. Every few minutes Tony would explain how this saga had distinguished itself from all zombie sagas before it and shaped Midgard's ideas of _draugar_ , culminating in a cultural fascination which Magister Horus and his sponsors had known would terrify humans.

When that saga ended, Tony showed him another, a more recent one with far more realistically feigned carnage. Loki watched _draugar_ destroy Midgard on the screen, glimpsing why the humans today had been so terrified. Magister Horus and those who had gifted his relics to him had known they would be, and had done it anyway. They had to be evil men indeed. 

He glanced at Tony to remark on something, but when he saw Tony's face he stopped. Tony was staring blindly at the screen, his face deeply grim. 

"Tony?"

"What else can you do?" Stark asked. Loki frowned, trying to make sense of that. "Magically, I mean."

Loki said nothing. So that was the clue Stark had needed that their dalliance was impossible. Magic was all very well when it was conjuring ice out of the air or casting an illusion, but now that he had seen a measure of Loki's true power it was too much. Too frightening for a mere mortal.

"Okay, I should've realized you wouldn't tell me. It's your way of defending yourself, I get that. It's just...." Stark blew out a frustrated breath. "Today I saw some of what you can do. How powerful you are, even without any glowstick of destiny or Cosmic Cubes. How hard it would be to really damage you."

Loki had to think of something to say before Stark could finish putting this into words. Something to spare himself the sting of it. But his silver tongue had turned to lead. Perhaps he should simply get up and leave.

"And you couldn't defeat Thanos. Couldn't even escape from him."

Loki blinked.

Stark finally met his gaze, and in his was a bottomless well of grief. "This is hopeless, isn't it. Earth is going to be destroyed."

Of all the foolish things Loki had ever done, this ranked with killing his true father to win the love of his false one, but he could not endure what he saw in Tony's face now. He held the man's gaze. "Tony. I am the Liesmith, but right now I am speaking truth to you. Midgard will be protected. Midgard will survive."

For a second Tony clearly thought that Loki was merely offering comforting but empty words. Then something fell into place in his mind, and hope began to replace grief in his face. "You have a plan."

Loki said nothing. _Sentiment._

Tony leaned forward. He pressed a button and the movie froze. "I should've known you would! You probably had it all worked out your first day here before you even got out of your stolen-kidney bath."

"My _what?"_

"You should see your face. I'll explain later, it's another product of our sick Midgardian imaginations. Tell me your plan."

"I cannot. Truly, Tony." Loki paused, frustrated. Tony's faith in Loki's ability to scheme was far too gratifying. "I can hardly ask you to trust me, but surely you may trust my self-interest."

"I can help."

"Hm. You can. Answer some questions."

"If I do, will you tell me your plan?"

"No."

Tony sighed. "What do you want to know?"

Loki thought of how best to phrase it. Tony was no doubt hoping he could divine his plan backwards from Loki's questions. "I cannot carry out my plan without Thor's aid."

"And you actually think he wouldn't do anything you asked him to? Especially if it meant defending Earthgard, which he seems pretty fond of?"

"You do not know what he, and I, must do. I need to know what Thor thinks of me. Not how he feels; I know that he still loves me as if I really were his brother, fool that he is."

"That makes you a fool too."

Loki did not deny it. "Tell me everything... uncomplimentary that he has said of me. Do not spare my feelings, this is too important."

Tony turned the question over in his mind. Loki wondered if Tony would deduce his entire plan from it. It seemed unlikely, but Tony had surprised him before.

"He told us you were a liar. He wasn't exactly a fan of that, but he said that your lies were more annoying than harmful up until you told him that Odin was dead when he was stuck on Earth."

Loki hated that memory, hated himself whenever he recalled it, but he only nodded. "Go on."

Tony thought. "What I can tell you is probably skewed. He was always trying so hard to convince us that you weren't such a bad guy. He kept telling us that for the two-thousand-odd years you two've been alive, you were only mischievous, not murderous, up until you found out you were adopted." Tony tilted his head to look at Loki with a little lopsided smile. "I guess I must believe him."

Tony went on talking for a while, pausing now and then to search through his memories. Everything bad he reported Thor saying of Loki was paired with the praise Thor had leavened it with. Thor had deplored Loki's slyness, but admitted its value in saving their lives in battle many times. He had disparaged Loki's preferred fighting style, of thrown blades and cunning rather than honest frontal attacks, but admitted that Loki's comparatively slight build made it an intelligent choice. He had both derided and boasted of Loki's cleverness and knowledge. Thor had, reluctantly, confessed Loki's envy of him - and had admitted that his own careless treatment of his supposed brother had fed it, when more thought and kindness might perhaps have alleviated it.

Loki was too cautious to ask about what he most wished to know, but eventually Tony came to it. Thor had, on a few occasions, staying up late with a couple of Avengers and a lot of alcohol, talked about Loki's betrayal of him in great detail, trying to make sense of it. He had understood that it was not the throne Loki truly coveted, but their father's regard. But Thor yet found it baffling that after so many centuries of brotherhood, Loki could turn on him.

When Tony started to move to another topic, Loki stopped him. "Tell me what else he said about my attempt to steal his place."

Tony examined his face, saw more than Loki wanted him to see. "Is this some kind of twisted penance? Is this your way of punishing yourself?" His eyes narrowed. "Or are you just getting off on being the one with the power in the relationship for a change?"

"I will never be the one with the power!" Loki burst out. "Still everything depends upon him, and upon his wretched father. All I can do is show Thor that if he does what he must, I will not twist it to take from him what is his. Nothing I did has ever availed me with my false father. Even if my insane plan had worked and he had been left with only me, he never would have- With my supposed brother, at least I can show to him my good faith, if I know just where his doubt lies. Unlike Odin he _wants_ to believe in my love, I can _show_ him that it is real, I can show him my loyalty-"

"Wait. Wait." Tony's dark brown eyes were wide and luminous. "Damn, it seems obvious now. I couldn't figure out why you kept saying you weren't his brother, when it was ripping you up inside. Now I get it. You've been trying to tell him that you're not competition for the throne of Asgard." Tony gave a pained smile, one that said he understood Loki's feelings only too well. "Or Daddy's love."

"When Thor was banished and I learned what I was, I thought I might be able to win our supposed father, if there were no competition. A king needs a son. A prince does not need a brother. For a prince, a brother is a liability."

"So you were stuck competing for everything with the person you loved the most. Odin's a fucking monster. And considering the number he did on you, points to you for taking two thousand years to start killing people."

Loki could not help a tiny smile. "How kind of you to say."

"Listen, Game of Thrones, I seriously do not think that Thor's concerned about that. He's never said anything about being worried you might try to be king again."

"Now perhaps he is not worried. When it comes to it, he will find himself regarding me with suspicion whether he wishes to or not. I have been a threat to him since the moment Odin picked me up in that temple. I have always been his only possible rival."

"Loki, you need to explain this to Thor. You're breaking his heart."

"If he works it out for himself-"

"Hey, I love the guy too, but he's not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer. You need to spell it out for him."

"I have begun to think I shall have to, but I still think-"

"If you don't, I will." Tony's voice was flat and final.

"Give me one week."

Tony studied him.

"One more week, and then if he still has not understood, I will tell him."

"One week. And then if you don't, I will."

Loki nodded. The day's fatigue abruptly caught up with him, and he slumped back on the sofa. Tony followed suit.

"Hell of a day, wasn't it."

"But at least it ended with pizza."

Tony laughed. "Glad to see even Norse gods of mischief have their priorities straight."

He pushed the button and they resumed watching _draugar_ devour people until they fell asleep in front of the television.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've managed not to hear of it, the "stolen kidney bath" is a reference to [this creepy urban legend](http://www.snopes.com/horrors/robbery/kidney.asp).


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brofeels.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Grey Bard for betaing.

The next morning, Thor corralled Loki into his room as soon as he had finished breakfast. "Does it still hurt?"

"Yes."

"A great deal?"

"Yes."

"Please tell me this was a part of your plan."

"And who said I have a plan?"

Thor folded his arms.

"True, getting shot was a bit of an improvisation." Loki sat on his bed, leaning his back against the headboard and drawing his knees up.

Thor sat on the foot of the bed, studying him. "What is it you are planning?"

"To save Midgard."

"Why?"

"It is Thanos's fault it is imperiled, but I was his instrument." 

"How?"

"You know I never share my plans until I am ready. Don't worry, you'll get to hammer a great many people, that I promise you." Before Thor could remonstrate with him, Loki added, "Tony asked me if you were going to challenge him to a duel."

"A duel? Why?"

"Apparently in the past Midgardian men were responsible for keeping their younger brothers chaste, or something."

A wide grin spread over Thor's leonine face. "I thank the Norns Asgardian men have no such obligations!"

Loki returned the grin, and then they were laughing. After a minute they caught their breath and looked at each other. And Loki imagined Thor trying to come between him and his lovers, down through the centuries, trying to keep watch so Loki did not slip away from his supervision, chasing a series of handsome men and occasional pretty women out of Loki's chambers, and the laughter bubbled out of him again, and Thor clearly had the same thought, and they were laughing together as they had not in years.

When the laughter had run its course, they looked at each other, grinning and breathless. Loki spoke before Thor could. "You followed my instructions yesterday. I did not have time to thank you for not arguing. Much."

"It was a matter of magic. Your province."

"I can recall many occasions when that did not influence you."

"I was a fool."

Loki rested his hands on his knees and regarded him. "I was surprised to find that you were not the leader of this band of warriors."

"This is not my realm. It is not my place, and Steve is an able leader."

"And you are willing to take orders from a mortal. A commoner."

"A most uncommon commoner. The champion of his people! You know we cannot do everything for the humans, they must find their own way. And truly, am I suited to direct such varied warriors? Myself, I had rather charge forth and rely on my shield-brothers to watch my flanks and my brother to watch my back."

Loki lifted an eyebrow. Thanks to the arrow wound, it hurt. "Since when do you think before fighting?"

Thor looked at him steadily. "Since you sabotaged my coronation."

Loki lowered his gaze for a moment, drew a breath. "Thor, whatever men might say, I did not ruin your coronation out of mere envy. There was some petty satisfaction over it, this I cannot deny. You know me all too well. But I would not have done it for that alone, had I not believed that Father was mistaken, that preventing you from being king then was the best thing for Asgard. And, to be quite frank, for you."

"I was not ready," Thor admitted. "And... I do not think Father _was_ mistaken."

"What?"

Thor did not speak for a moment. When he did, his voice was low and unhappy. "He must have seen it would be disastrous. He saw how Asgard loved me. He wanted me to fail before our people to make them welcome him back. To preserve a kingship that was never contested - no matter how his subjects had to suffer for my folly." 

Loki shook his head slowly. "And to think that _I_ am the adopted one." He looked at his foster brother, handsome and earnest and brave, and abruptly pride in him swelled in Loki's heart. "So, you accept the leadership of a mere mortal, and listen to the judgment of your shield-brothers here. You never used to listen to anyone - not me, not Sif or the Warriors Three. Do you listen now, when you are on Asgard?"

"I try to. Had I been better at listening...." Thor shook his head sadly, then leaned forward. "Brother - no, I will call you that - brother, I have expressed my remorse to Sif and the Three, and now I must apologize to you. I am sorry for dragging us all to Jotunheim that day. Not for the revelation of your heritage or the pain it caused you, which none of us could have foreseen, but because I foolishly endangered you all. You trusted me and followed me and I repaid you with recklessness. I did not deserve the loyalty you all showed me, joining me in my folly that day. Loki, I am sorry for that."

Loki swallowed. "Thor, I have always had faith in you. You were not ready then to be king, but I never doubted that one day you would become a man who might be a great king indeed. And in the days thereafter, while my plans were spinning wildly and my mind betraying me, you were becoming that man. When... when the time comes, you will be ready."

Thor clasped the side of Loki's neck. He spoke gravely. "Loki, I did not always show you the respect you deserved. I was not as good a brother as I should have been." 

"You were a good enough brother to make me love you a great deal."

Thor smiled, tearful. "But always have I respected your judgment. I have always wanted your good opinion more than anyone else's - except for Father's." Loki tensed at the mention of Odin, but Thor kept his hand firm on Loki's neck. "Loki, thank you."

"Thor." Loki's throat closed up. Thor still loved him. His plan was intact. He had Tony Stark in his bed, if he wished. 

Everything he wanted - and could reasonably hope to gain - was within his reach now.

This was just the sort of moment when everything fell apart.

"Loki. Will you not call me brother again?"

And there it was. Either answer could ruin everything. Should he do as Stark wished, and simply explain it all to the beloved golden oaf? He managed a bitter smile, stalling for time. "Will you stand before all Asgard and claim a _frost giant_ as your brother?"

"I will. And no one in Asgard knows."

Loki straightened up at that, startled. "No one?"

"Well, Mother, Father, and I. No one else even knows that you were adopted."

Loki's mind raced. "I doubt that makes Asgard hate me any less."

"You have seen nothing of Asgard except the inside of a dungeon since - since the Bifrost. Asgard does not hate you."

"How can it not?"

Thor let his hand fall. "Those who are old enough to remember the war with Jotunheim do not want another one. It was long and bloody and cost the lives of many Aesir. Asgard still loves me, but they were unhappy with me for endangering the peace with the Jotnar. You averted war without shedding one drop of Asgardian blood. My friends did not want you on the throne, but in fact you were better than I was - for Asgard, at least."

Loki frowned, incredulous. "And the Aesir are glad I averted war?"

"They think trying to kill all the Jotnar off was going too far, but yes, they are."

"That may be inconvenient. Once we've taken care of Thanos, I was planning to make reparations to Jotunheim."

"So you no longer wish to destroy the Jotnar?" 

"You ask if I believe one should kill frost giants for being frost giants?" Loki asked wryly. "Thor, I will not fast or scourge myself in penance, but I was wrong and I am grateful that you stopped me. Now, what say they about my invasion of Midgard?"

"I don't think most of Asgard cares. Who are mere mortals to defy a prince of Asgard who wishes to rule them?"

For a dizzy moment, temptation blazed through Loki. Asgard did not know he was not its prince and from what Thor said, esteemed him more than it ever had. It saw at least a little of Thor's foolishness - now that he had finally lost it. Loki could be king of Asgard once more. It was not impossible. He could betray his loving foster brother and his unloving foster father, seize the throne, rule over everyone. He had meant it when he said he never wanted it, but when it was within reach it was like the sirens' song, alluring and maddening.

And the moment of madness passed, and Loki looked at his foster brother, and chose loyalty to those who loved him.

Speaking of whom.... "How is... the queen?"

" _Our mother_ is well. But unhappy."

Loki wanted, desperately, to know if he still had a mother, at least. But he could not bring himself to ask. It had been Frigga who had Gungnir placed in his hands, who gave him the chance he had never dreamed of having, and he had failed her quite spectacularly.

"She tried to intercede with Father on your behalf," Thor offered, and something twisted in Loki's chest. "Unfortunately, I think that between us, our attempts may have made him the more stubborn."

Loki looked away. She still cared. It was something.

He had to change the subject. Something light-hearted.

"So." He arched an eyebrow at Thor, ignoring the twinge the movement caused. "Forty-two?"

"You thought I had Jane Foster? We did not get to it before I had to return." 

Ah, yes, there was a light-hearted subject: when he had tried to kill Thor and Thor had returned to do battle with him and Loki had attempted suicide and instead fell into the hands of a fiend more evil than he could have imagined. "But you returned to Midgard later. I assumed you saw her again."

"I have not seen her since Father imprisoned you." Thor looked away, somber. "She deserves a human man with whom she can grow old."

"You still care for her."

"Of course I do."

Loki hesitated. "Thor, it may not work, but there are some magics-"

"Loki, I am going to marry Sif."

Loki took this in. "When?"

Thor shrugged. "Soon."

"And your father has approved the match?" When Thor did not answer, Loki leaned closer. "You have not told him?"

"It will be announced when the time is right."

The two held each others' gazes for a long moment.

"I doubt that Sif wishes to have me as a brother-in-law."

"I know that there is no love lost between the two of you, but she knows of my continued loyalty to you." Thor placed his hand on the side of Loki's neck again. "You both have long behaved as friends for my sake. Will you continue to do so?"

Loki managed a smile. "You know that I will. And in fact, despite my own feelings towards her, I was going to advise you to marry her."

Thor's fingers tensed. "Were you?"

"She has been loyal to you as a shield-brother, and she has been in love with you for many years." Loki paused. "It would be unwise not to reward such loyalty."

"I do actually care for her, you know." Thor sat back again, his position mirroring Loki's.

"I never doubted it."

"I allowed myself to care for Jane because I believed that I was permanently on Midgard and mortal. Loki, Tony Stark is a good man. If he belonged to some longer-lived species I would rejoice to see you with him. But in a handful of years he will die."

Loki scowled. "Thus far, he and I both know what everyone in this Tower wants us to do about each other - except for each other."

"You did not discuss it last night, after the rest of us retired?"

"We were tired. We watched the _draugar_ saga, that was all."

"Loki-"

"Thor, I have told you. It was just a bit of fun."

"He spoke as if he intended to continue having fun."

Damn. When had the golden oaf become so perceptive? But he was right.

And Fury was right. The entanglement was damaging their judgment. Loki would never have indulged in reassuring Stark by letting him know that he had a plan if he weren't becoming attached. 

He would not risk his scheme for any lover, however brilliant, however comely, however pleasing between the sheets.

Pride made him say, "You have been on Midgard too long. You have decided it is your duty to keep your so-called younger brother celibate. That is too great a challenge even for the mighty Thor."

Then he rose and went in search of Stark. He would tell him their dalliance was over.

 

Down in the labs, Tony evaded Bruce for a few minutes to make a phone call. He was in way better a mood than he should be, considering that the cube was gone. There was just one cloud in the ointment.

Pepper's voice answered, and Tony sacked up.

"Pep, you happen to know where I can get two cows and a goat?"

She didn't, but she still had plenty to say about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since a couple of people asked, the "two cows and a goat" is a reference back to an earlier chapter when Pepper was telling Tony not to sleep with Loki. He was all, "Thor would probably demand that I give him two cows and a goat for defiling his little brother, and I don't have any livestock."


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony is distracting.

Stark spent most of the day in Banner's lab helping him search for the cube. Loki was glad enough of the excuse to put off talking to him. He lounged about in the common room, trying to read despite the throbbing pain in his head.

The soldier found him there and sat across from him, frowning at the bandage over Loki's eye. "Are you okay?" 

The lad (it was hard to think of him as anything else) sounded actually concerned. "It will heal, Captain."

"I had a talk with Clint. Shooting your teammates is not appropriate behavior. Even if they do have super-healing." 

"I wish you had not done that. Thor and I both told you: it was between me and Agent Barton. My offering to appease his grievance."

"Yeah, well, no more offerings. I've seen enough men shot in the head. I'd rather not see more."

It had not occurred to Loki that painful memories might be triggered for the soldier. "Believe me, it is not an experience I am in a hurry to repeat."

The soldier sat back. "Glad we had you yesterday. Without a sorcerer on our side, a lot more people would have died before we could've stopped that guy."

"That is what you brought me here to do, Captain." _It's what stolen relics are for,_ Loki thought, but did not let the bitterness show in his face or his voice.

"So what else can you do? I need to know if you're going to be fighting with us."

Loki doubted the lad was fool enough to think Loki would tell him everything, but he dutifully listed the abilities the Avengers had already seen. Illusory doppelgangers, bolts of energy from his hands, very limited materialization (mostly only used for his clothes, as the spell required detailed knowledge of the object), force fields. There was a little more, but he had kept those secrets for centuries and was not about to share them with some mortal. He did not mention his ability to conjure lubricant out of thin air. Somehow he didn't think the good Captain would appreciate the information.

"Can't you use magic to make your eye heal faster?"

"No. I lack healing magic."

"I don't understand the difference."

"Some sorcerers are healers. The... you have no words for this, so I shall say 'life force' wishes to repair the bodies it lives in. A healer can channel this life force, make it do its work more swiftly. I have no such ability. There are ways that my magic can be used to treat injuries. If someone has a bleeding wound, I can create a force field which will prevent the blood from flowing out of the veins. If there is a weapon lodged in someone's body, in some cases I can make it rematerialize outside of them."

They talked for a while about how Loki's abilities could be utilized in combat, and when the lad was satisfied he left to consult with Fury. Loki returned to his book.

Not long after, Romanoff approached him, cold and beautiful as a Valkyrie. "That was quite a stunt."

"Yes, great fun. I gather you are not as appeased as your lover is."

"Appeasement isn't the issue. I'm more interested in what you hope to achieve by it."

"I'm hoping to terrify you all by demonstrating how hard I am to kill." His tone was sardonic and she watched his face, unwavering.

"Don't think you can hold what I did over my head forever," she told him. "Fury built another Hulk cage. If I think you are betraying us, I will confess what I did and take the consequences after they put you in it."

He smiled pleasantly. "I would expect nothing less. If I were planning to betray Midgard, I would," he paused, pretending to think, "hm, I would respond to what you just said by slaying you at the first opportunity, and your lover as well, since he may know what you did. I assume you have prepared for such a contingency? Documents to be read in the event of your death, et cetera?"

"So they have bad movies on Asgard too?"

"Such precautions predate movies by many millenia." He tilted his head to study her. "What is it you wish for me to say? Shall I reassure you with sweet words?"

"No thanks. Just don't screw us. You'll regret it if you do." 

Having said her piece, she left him. Loki returned to his book. He rather liked Romanoff. A pity they had first met as enemies. 

Eventually Stark emerged. He invited Loki to join him with a smile and a jerk of his head.

Loki needed privacy to have this talk, so he followed Tony to his bedroom. Tony spent very little time in here, but it had nonetheless been made luxurious and beautiful for him, in a streamlined, austere fashion. The bed was enormous. Loki could not resist a joke. "Did this bed used to have four bedposts, or just one?"

"It used to have a forest of them." Tony went to the bar - of course there was a bar - and poured something clear and cold into two glasses. "Does your eye still hurt?" Loki shrugged. Tony handed him a glass. "Sorry we don't have anything else, but Bruce said that giving you human painkillers might backfire. We don't know enough about your species. Don't suppose you know how we could make some kind of Asgardian painkiller?"

"No. But alcohol will help." He knocked the drink back and set the glass down. "Tony-"

"You know what might help with the pain? Distraction."

And before Loki knew it Tony was on him. Tony wasn't quite tall enough to kiss his mouth unless Loki bent down, but he was at the perfect height to press his lips to Loki's neck, and he did so with consummate skill, nuzzling and nibbling in a way that instantly sent shivers through Loki's entire body. His hands were working too, moving over Loki's body in a confident way that he really should have resented, but didn't.

Stark might have only a few decades' worth of practice at this, but he had learned well from them.

Before Loki knew it he had dipped his head to capture Tony's mouth, and the tension in his forehead and neck drained away, easing the pain somewhat, as Tony kissed him deeply.

"Are you distracted?" Tony asked.

"From what?"

Tony flashed a quick grin. "I thought so. This isn't a good pain remedy for everyone. I feel sorry for people like that." As he spoke, his fingernails lightly drew patterns on Loki's back, his side.

Loki's good eye fluttered closed. It was too good to be touched like this, after the last few years. Somehow he could not find the will to relinquish it. Tony's touch made him feel as if he were coming back to life.

"You're good at this. For a human."

Tony huffed a laugh. "Now there's something I never hoped to hear in my bedroom." 

He was unbuttoning Loki's shirt now, sliding his hands under it, and Loki found himself reaching to reciprocate. His fingers found the arc reactor. He rested his palm on it, feeling the faint pulse of magic emanating from it. Then moved his hand slowly lower. Tony evaded him deftly.

"Not so fast, Magic Hands. You didn't give me a chance to really show off last time." 

He applied his mouth to Loki's chest then. And showed off.

Loki caught his breath and tried to nod sagely. He didn't think he quite pulled it off. "I see. You are in pursuit of flattery."

"You can flatter me by screaming my name."

After that it was rather a jumble. Loki allowed himself to be wrestled onto the bed, all their clothes found their way to Tony's plush carpet, and he had completely forgotten the ache in his head and the words he had come in here to say by the time Tony was looking slyly up at him and saying, "I never did get to return the favor."

Loki gritted his teeth. "Get on with it, Stark."

"We're back to last names, are we? Nothing like being naked with a raging hard-on to make you feel formal."

_"Tony."_ A few colorfully-phrased threats leapt to Loki's mind, but given past events, they would sound entirely too credible. "If you are trying to make me beg, I will simply flip you over right now."

"Promises, promises. No, I'm just worried I won't be able to measure up to all those Asgardians and elves and Highlanders with all those centuries of experience when I've only-"

"None of them wasted this much time talking, I will say that."

Tony's smirk became feral. "Oh, it is _on."_

Loki wasn't sure quite what that meant, but from the events of the next few minutes it seemed to mean that Tony was going to do more useful things with his mouth than crack wise. Loki gave himself up to the pleasure, losing himself under Tony's expert ministrations. And did flatter him a little bit.

When Tony moved back up to lie beside him, Loki pulled him in for a kiss, savoring his own taste on Tony's mouth. Tony looked smug, but he was entitled to. Loki was going to miss that look.

No, he was not. Had he lost so much of himself? Had he forgotten how to enjoy the game? He was the god of mischief! Since when did Silvertongue fear complications? He sought them out! He reveled in them! He had taken an arrow through the eye for this man, he was not giving him up so swiftly.

The next several hours passed in a blur. At first it was a bit of a competition, each of them showing off their skills, trying to drive each other mad by turns. Eventually Stark annoyed him enough that he carried through on his threat to simply flip him over and end the contest, but Stark gave every indication of not minding at all. 

When they bothered to ask Jarvis for the time it was well after midnight. They sat on the rumpled bed, sipping martinis (one of Midgard's better ideas, and reason enough to defend the realm) and idly caressing.

"I hope I'm not giving you the wrong idea," Tony said abruptly. Immediately Loki was on guard.

"About?"

"This could be interpreted as positive reinforcement, and I don't want to encourage you to let people shoot you by rewarding you with sex. Next time you let someone shoot you you're sleeping on the couch for a week."

Loki snorted. "I will let people shoot me if I see fit, Stark."

"Oh, I get it, you're a strong independent trickster who insists on controlling his own eye sockets. I don't know what's gotten into Norse gods these days."

At this moment Loki felt that all was right with the universe and cared nothing for Tony's reasons, but a calculating voice in the back of his head reminded him that he would care later and that there would seldom be a better time to ask than now, when Stark was bonelessly relaxed and contented from the hours of sex.

"Why? There are plenty of good-looking men out there who haven't tried to kill you. Or mind-controlled your friends. Or brought alien armies to your realm."

"Guess I can't resist a challenge."

Loki said nothing. Right now the answer really didn't matter to him.

"We've been holding out ever since you first got here. That you didn't make your move until you figured out how smart I am tells me you're a keeper," Stark added.

"You do have your own way of doing things."

"Right back atcha. I've read a lot of Norse mythology in the last few years. Is there any truth to those myths?"

Loki groaned. "This is about the horse, isn't it?"

Tony laughed. "I've got a large supply of jokes prepared, but I'll tell them sometime when we're in a room without any windows."

"I guarantee I have already heard all of them. The story is mostly true - except for the most interesting part. I did have to stop a builder from finishing a wall, but I took the much simpler route of enchanting a mare from my fa- the royal stables to go into heat and then counting on horses to behave like horses. Which they did. And the result was indeed the king's eight-legged mount, Sleipnir. I used to suspect that the notion that I transformed into the mare myself came from an Asgardian pulling some human's leg. However, since learning that you Midgardians believe that _draugar_ eat living humans and infect others with their condition and that villains bathe in a soup made from the kidneys of their victims, I have concluded that the horse story is a product of sick human imaginations."

"The soup thing isn't actually how the story goes, but you know what, that's even better than the one we came up with, let's stick with it. So there's no gold ring that spits out more gold rings every day, or apples of immortality, or well of wisdom?"

"All myth, I fear. "

Tony's tone had been carefully casual. He had tried to make it seem that the question had been an idle one, but Loki was the god of lies. Still, he would do him the courtesy of pretending to be fooled. 

"Also, Thor and I never donned dresses to retrieve Mjölnir from dwarves. Sorry to disappoint."

He wished he could reassure Tony about his life expectancy, but sentiment had already led him to tell the man too much. And it would only be a matter of weeks before he could bestow his gift.

"So you're not really a shape-shifter?"

"In a sense. I have spent almost my entire life in a false form. But transforming into a creature much larger than myself - like a horse - would be impossible. And shape-shifting is exceedingly difficult magic."

"Hey, would you show me your frost giant form?"

 

_"Hey, would you show me your frost giant form?"_

Tony had hoped that his last words would be something more memorable. 

For a few seconds he thought that Loki had used magic to stop his heart or turn his organs to stone. Then he realized it was only his own terror that had caused those sensations.

Loki had looked less furious when he threw him out the window.

Tony couldn't move. All he could do was wait for Loki to eviscerate him.

It didn't happen. A few seconds later Loki was out of the bed, his clothes materializing onto him, and he swept out of the room without a word or a backward glance.

Tony resumed breathing. And spent a couple of minutes just being happy to be alive.

Well. It wasn't like he hadn't had plenty of warning.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bargain is struck.

The Other would have destroyed the Earth device the moment it appeared but for the familiar magic emanating from its power source. The paltry human gadget was powered by a battery and that battery had been formed from the Tesseract. Only the merest spark of it, but The Other recognized it. And so he laid the device at the foot of his master’s throne.

Thanos’s expression showed a faint flicker of amusement before he nodded once. The Other pressed the device’s single button. 

At once an image was projected into the air. A human, craggy-faced, elderly, his head a bare dome, a monocle in one eye. 

“Greetings, Lord Thanos,” the figure said. “I am Baron von Strucker, leader of Hydra and future ruler of Earth. I am offering you an alliance to our mutual benefit. 

“The alliance I offer you is much like that you forged with Loki of Asgard. But I, unlike him, will neither fail you nor betray you. And in return for your forces, I also can offer you one more thing that you want, in addition to the cube. 

“I can offer you Loki of Asgard.”

Thanos smiled.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What, now you’re trying to talk me out of it, too?” Tony looked up at him, quizzical. “It's true that I usually avoid fixer-uppers. But maybe that's for the best. Most people would be trying to fix you, and that's a recipe for trouble. I just want to enjoy you.”

Tony knocked back a shot of whiskey, immediately poured himself another one, and all but tore open the prototype anti-Chitauri missile he'd been working on. He looked at its metal innards with a scowl for a moment before pulling half its components out. “Jarvis, ditch the last three versions of the blueprints for this. Let’s see versions three through eight.” He looked at the array in the air for a moment before instructing, “Get rid of four and seven. Put version five in front.” He swallowed the next shot and then plunged his hands into the virtual display, pulling things apart. “Let’s try a different coolant connector – call up the specs for all the ones I've used in the past five years. And put on some AC/DC.”

He poured more whiskey while he watched the display rotate in the air before him. “Increase the volume.”

Right now he needed all the distraction he could get.

He spent the rest of the night in the labs, alternating between work on his anti-Chitauri missile and useless attempts to contrive some new angle on finding the Tesseract. It still couldn’t keep his mind off the naked rage on Loki’s face in that moment. 

Having something else to do did at least give him a little perspective after a few hours. By dawn he could see that from Loki’s angle, that request had been way out of line. Which, okay, he could live with putting a no-go zone around the subject of his (ex-?)boyfriend’s species. What he couldn’t live with was being in fear of his life every time he slipped up.

Early, while Bruce was probably still having breakfast, Thor entered the lab in search of Tony. “I must speak to you of my brother, Tony.” He was all frowny and serious. Great.

“Pepper’s looking into the two cows and a goat I owe you.”

“What?”

“Sorry, bad joke. What’d he tell you?”

“Loki has made it clear that he does not consider it my place to meddle.”

“But you’re meddling anyway.”

“I must.”

“Did he tell you about last night?”

Thor looked affronted. “We do not speak of such matters.”

“Not what I meant, but go ahead, say your piece.” Tony waved away the blueprints and gave Thor his attention, still fiddling with the nozzle actuator he'd been about to replace.

“You know that I have the highest opinion of you, Tony Stark. You are my trusted shield-brother. But should my brother become attached to you, the results will be painful for all concerned. Which usually would be only your trouble and his, but Loki is still reeling from the ordeals he has endured these last few years. He has yet to find a new place for himself now that his old place, as a prince of Asgard, is no more. And he has gone mad enough to do evil things once. I fear that could happen again.”

“So it’s unanimous. Nobody wants us doing it but us. Too bad for you all that we have the deciding votes. But cheer up, Stormy; we had kind of a fight last night, so it might be over anyway.”

“A fight?”

“Yeah. Lemme ask you something.” Tony started to think of how to frame a few questions about Asgardian cultural attitudes, then decided that just telling Thor right out and watching his reaction would be more useful. “Last night I asked him to show me his frost giant form.”

Thor’s eyes blazed and he took a menacing step towards Tony. “How could you do that? I thought you were a kind man, Tony Stark. And yet you - you-“ Thor was now too angry to even find words.

“Thor.” Tony spoke very firmly. He waited until Thor looked like he had a little bit of a grip on himself before continuing. “I’m sorry, all right? I told you because I wanted to see if he was losing it again or if that was a proportional Asgardian reaction.”

“Reaction?”

“He looked like he wanted to flay me alive. And then he flounced out.”

“That was all?”

“That was all. Has he ever shown you his frost form?”

Thor looked offended again. Well, clearly this was not Tony’s day for successful communication with Asgardians. “No. And I certainly would never ask such a thing of him.”

Tony topped up his own whiskey – what, it had been almost an hour since his last shot – and poured one for Thor too. Asgardians didn't seem to have grasped the concept of “too early in the day”.

“Okay, so, best case scenario, I apologize for crossing that line and he apologizes for scaring the shit out of me and we keep dallying.” Hanging out with Asgardians was doing wonders for Tony’s vocabulary. He’d be talking like that brooding dude in Jane Austen before he knew it. “Do I have to be afraid that one day I’ll piss him off again and he’ll break my neck or turn me into a toad?”

“He never did any such thing to his lovers before.” Thor scowled, looming over Tony. “But then, none of them ever asked him to turn into a Jotun.”

“Yeah, my bad. But look, you used to hate frost giants, and you killed a bunch of them, and then you stopped Loki from killing them all. I take it you don’t hate them anymore.”

Thor actually took a minute to think that one over, which Tony thought was a good sign. “They have long been enemies of Asgard. But I hope that in future our realms may be at peace.” 

“Super. But, hm. What was your reaction when your dad told you that Loki was one?”

“From the moment I learned what Loki had been up to in my exile, I was mystified. Nothing in our past could have led me to expect such ruthlessness from him. Indeed, during our duel, I wondered if he had dabbled in some black magic and been possessed by an evil spirit. But when Father told me, it made perfect sense.”

“That a frost giant would do that stuff?”

Another thunderous frown. “That learning he was one would drive him mad.”

“Okay, got it, but I was really trying to find out how you felt. I know you still love your little brother, but, well. Did finding that out about him change your feelings for him at all?”

“I-“ Thor checked himself, scowled. “For a few days, I thought it had. This was in the first days after he had tried to kill me and all the Jotnar and then himself. But as the shock of those deeds wore off, I realized how sorely I missed him. And that the two thousand years that I believed him to be my brother mattered more than the handful of days in which I knew that he was not - not by birth.”

Tony patted him on the elbow. He wanted to pat his shoulder, but Thor’s shoulder was kind of high off the ground and it wouldn’t have the right effect. “I am very glad to hear that, buddy. You’re a good brother.”

Thor smiled sadly at that. Tony suppressed a sigh. These two. What the hell was he going to do with them? Lock them in a room together until they worked it out, maybe.

Tony picked up a screwdriver just to turn it over in his hands. “So, on a different subject. Loki kind of told me that he has a plan for taking down Thanos, but he won’t tell me what it is. Do you know?”

Thor gave him another serious, man-to-man look. “He has not told me.”

“Uh huh. But I didn’t ask you if he told you, did I?”

Thor considered before speaking very gravely. “I do not know Loki's plan, but I can assure you that we will stop Thanos before he destroys Midgard.”

Tony took a second to parse that. “Are you saying that you have a plan of your own?”

“My friend, forgive me, but we must not speak of this now. I cannot explain, but please trust me.”

Fucking mysterious aliens. “At least tell me what you're waiting for.”

Thor looked around as if someone might have come in without their noticing. “I will require Loki's aid, and we must trust each other again first.”

Didn't that sound familiar. “And when’s that going to be?”

“When I can prove my love for him completely enough that he will acknowledge once more that we are brothers.”

Tony looked at the nearest counter and seriously considered banging his head against it.

He almost spilled the beans, but he had made Loki a promise. And one thing Loki did not need now was to have his boyfriend breaking promises at the drop of a hat. Tony rubbed his eyes. Norse gods were so damn _complicated._

That was when Bruce strolled in with coffee and doughnuts for Tony. Tony pounced on them and Thor departed. Bruce watched Thor leave and then gave Tony a little smile. “Trying to bag another demigod while you’re on a roll?”

“One’s enough trouble. Bruce, I gotta run something by you. I need a sane person’s opinion on this, and there are only two of them in this building, and I don’t think Steve's the one to consult over committing sodomy with supervillains.”

“And I am? Lucky me.” Bruce’s eyes twinkled at him. God, he loved Bruce. If he’d had a brother, he’d have wanted it to be Bruce. 

He told Bruce about his _faux pas_ with Loki, and also about Thor’s reaction to it, and listened to what Bruce said, and they had a long talk. Luckily Jarvis didn’t announce that Loki was requesting to speak with him until late morning. 

“Send him in,” Tony said. Possibly this should be a private conversation, but if Loki was still foaming at the mouth, Tony would just as soon see him with Bruce in the room.

Loki stepped out of the elevator. He was not foaming at the mouth. The last time Tony had seen the guy looking this subdued, he was crawling out of the crater the Hulk had made with him. Even when Thor had hauled him out of that dungeon barely able to stand up, he’d been feistier.

Loki stood in front of Tony and spoke formally, performing an unpleasant duty. “I apologize for frightening you yesterday.” He paused. “I would not harm you, any of you Avengers, after what you have done for me. Regardless of what… flares of temper I might have.” Loki drew a breath, obviously steeling himself. “I do understand that you asked out of simple curiosity. I know that you, a human, could not possibly understand how repugnant my other form is to me. To you, the request must have seemed harmless.” He hesitated, like he thought he should say something more, before settling on, “I am sorry.”

“Good to know.”

Loki gave a stiff nod and turned back to the elevator.

“Wait.”

Loki halted but did not turn. 

Tony went to him. “C’mon, let’s go up to my lab.” When Loki looked at him, surprised, Tony said casually, “You don’t look like you’re in bunny-boiling mode now, so I’ll take the chance of being alone with you.”

Loki said nothing, but obligingly took the elevator a floor up to Tony’s lab with him. He accepted a drink but took only a token sip from it. Tony didn’t really feel like drinking at this particular instant either, but the civilized ritual made this a little easier.

“Okay, so, I owe you an apology too. I told Bruce what you were pissed off about and he told me I was a dickhead, though being Bruce of course he put it more nicely than that. And by the way, I also told Thor, and he concurred that I am a dickhead, so I guess that settles it. Anyway, Bruce explained a few things to me about,” Tony fortified himself with a swallow of bourbon even if he didn’t much want it, “about having an aspect of yourself you really hate but can’t escape from.”

“I am not asking for your pity, Stark.” Loki’s voice was, appropriately, icy.

“Oh, get over yourself. I’m trying to tell you that I see I was an asshole to ask you that, especially just blurting it out that way, and I wouldn’t have asked if I’d had any clue how it would feel to you. But I didn’t, because there is literally nothing that I can even compare being a frost giant to.”

At least now Loki only looked mildly irritated and mildly perplexed. “Midgard has its monsters. ‘Zombies’, for example.”

“Yeah, but it’s not like I’m going to find out that I’m a zombie, now is it? And we mortals are a jaded lot these days. We aren’t scared of vampires anymore, we want to have sex with them. Witches are woman-power types who love the Earth and like to wear jewelry ripped off from ancient Egypt. Russians and Germans were innocent victims of a handful of jerks who took over their governments. Aliens are cute big-eyed guys who love Reese’s pieces. Okay, look. I know you haven’t really had a chance yet, but when you do are you planning to read whatever books Asgard has about frost giants and maybe visit Jotunheim so you can learn about the beauty of your proud frosty heritage?”

Loki looked at him as if he had just sprouted a second head.

“See, I just summarized about a hundred thousand Earthgardian movies and novels, and you don’t even have a concept of doing that. Just so we’re clear, I have zero problems with frost giants. Thor loves you enough to overlook you being a Jotun. I have nothing to overlook. Got it?”

Loki gave a dubious nod.

“So without really thinking it over, I kind of assumed that you’d follow the script of those hundred thousand movies and novels I just mentioned, and because Bruce likes that I’m not afraid of his Other Guy and don’t tiptoe around the subject I figured the same approach would be good for you too, and the fact is that as a scientist and a geek I’m dying of curiosity to see another alien species up close. And I really hope that eventually you’ll figure out that there is nothing wrong with being a frost giant and that you shouldn’t let Asgard make you ashamed of it, but now that I’m actually thinking I can see that it’s not that easy to shake off two thousand years of programming. I was an insensitive prick and I didn’t mean to be and I’ll try not to be one again. If you’ll promise not to tear me limb from limb if I do.”

Loki still looked faintly bewildered, but the corners of his mouth were twitching. “I already did promise. Do you think I ever forget how large my debt to you is? To all of you?”

“Yeah, well, if your mysterious plan works, we’ll come out more than ahead on the deal. Our planet saved, plus some great sex for its handsomest occupant.”

Loki’s visible eye widened in polite curiosity. “Oh? Thor is lying with Captain Rogers?”

Putting down his drink, Tony stepped over and gave him a gentle shove, which thankfully Loki took in the spirit it was intended. “Right, you imprinted on tall muscular blonds, natch.”

“They are pleasant to look upon, certainly, but I have never felt the urge to partake of one.”

“‘Partake’. I so need to start using that one. And speaking of partaking, let me introduce you to an Earth custom called ‘make-up sex’.”

There was that guarded look again. “Have we made up?”

“You don’t want to?”

Loki's brows knitted. “I did not consider reconciliation a possibility.”

“You sure give up easy.” Tony smirked. “Or is this a cultural thing, I have to get your family’s approval first? What do I have to do? Best ten warriors in fair combat? Find the golden fleece? Give your parents your weight in silver?”

“Shut up.”

Tony shut up.

“The novelty will wear off shortly, Stark.”

“And we’ll have only our mutual genius and great sex to hold us together.”

“You still do not see what a colossally unwise idea this is.”

“Well, really, what is 'this' _,_ anyway? We suit each other. We're hot for each other. It's not like we're getting married or anything. It's a _dalliance._ We should enjoy it while it lasts.”

That seemed to have made an impression, but Loki wasn't done arguing. “I am not going to change shape for your entertainment.”

“It wasn’t-“

“If I have my way, I will never take that form again so long as I live.”

Tony took a literal step back, raising his hands, palms out. He didn’t believe that Loki wouldn’t eventually change his mind, but he didn’t have to have a silver tongue to realize this wasn’t the time to say so. “Okay. Okay. I won’t ask again. Okay?”

“I am not going to endure tiresome questions about my species, which I could not answer in any case.” 

Tony sighed. “You really are hard on the scientific curiosity, aren’t you? Okay, I won’t bug you with questions, tiresome or otherwise, but I’m not going to promise never to mention it. And for your part, you’ve got to refrain from going postal when I do. Or if I mess up and say the wrong thing.”

“Going what?”

“Looking at me like you want to bathe in a soup made of my kidneys. Also, if there are any other topics likely to bring out kidney-soup impulses, you need to tell me what they are. I’m not going to find out through trial and error.”

“You are no longer angry with me for frightening the wits out of you?”

“Ahh, I got plenty to spare.”

Loki gestured to his bandaged eye. “This will not placate your friends forever. They may grant you a brief indulgence, but little more.”

Tony found himself laughing. Laughing like he didn’t have a care in the world. His world was under siege, everyone in his life had him on their shit list, he had bedded down with a mass murderer, and he was laughing, sure that he could handle anything the Nine Realms threw at him. “If they couldn’t forgive more than me banging the bad guy, they wouldn’t be my friends. I take a lot of forgiving. Something you and I have in common.”

“Your worst crime was trusting people who had invested years into winning your confidence. That can hardly compare with the things I’ve done.”

Tony moved closer, unfastened Loki’s top button. “And you’ve been tortured for them.”

Loki caught his wrist. “Yes. I have spent most of the past four years being tortured. That does not make for emotional stability.”

“What, now _you’re_ trying to talk me out of it, too?” Tony looked up at him, quizzical. “It's true that I usually avoid fixer-uppers. But maybe that's for the best. Most people would be trying to fix you, and that's a recipe for trouble. I just want to enjoy you.”

Loki stared at him. He seized Tony's other wrist and held him back. _“Why?”_

The main reason Tony had been dodging that question, from Loki and everyone else, was that he didn’t have a good answer. Maybe it was time he admitted it. He held Loki’s gaze. “Because I want you.”

“That’s _all?”_

“That’s all.”

Loki stared at him. Tony twisted his wrists out of Loki’s grip and Loki made no attempt to stop him.

“So the only question now is, what do _you_ want?”

  

Tony suggested they use the futon again, but Loki said that the bed was far more comfortable and that was true, so they retreated to Tony’s room. They said that makeup sex was the best. Tony had never actually made up with anybody he’d slept with, but a few minutes in he concluded that “they” were right. In just a few minutes he and Loki were rolling around naked on the still-rumpled bed, their hands and mouths all over each other.

Tony flattered himself that he had impressed his beautiful damaged space wizard somewhat, even if he didn’t have hundreds of years of practice. And maybe he _had_ impressed him, because suddenly Loki laid back and looked at him, his legs apart and challenge in his gaze.

A challenge which Tony was quite ready to meet.

He got the oil out of the nightstand because asking Loki to magic up lube for him felt weird. Loki let him choose the course this time, where before Loki had always seized control. Tony took a long time preparing him, not because he thought Loki needed it but because he wanted Loki writhing and out of his mind with pleasure by the time he was inside him. Wiping the self-possessed little smirk off Loki's face and replacing it with open gasping need was highly gratifying. When Loki was groaning his name with a hint of a plea in his voice, Tony finally slid in, and it felt so good that it was almost painful.

Loki was beautiful when he was being fucked. His gaze went unfocused and entranced, he panted open-mouthed which compelled Tony to capture that mouth with his own over and over even though he was gasping for breath himself, and gods, just having that pale-skinned body stretched out under him for his pleasure, those mile-long legs wrapped around him, was the most intoxicating thing imaginable. And no matter how rough he got, Loki just took it and demanded more, the order in the clenching of his fingers on Tony’s buttocks and the ferocious slamming of his pelvis against Tony’s.

When he came Loki threw back his head and cried out, loud and guttural, every muscle in his face and neck taut. Tony drowned in the sight, it hypnotized him and dazzled him and exploded inside him.

Tony was forever ruined for mortals.

Or more accurately, for anyone who wasn’t Loki.

  

Andrea and Andreas von Strucker allowed the sensors to scan their retinas and fingerprints. The electronic doors slid open to admit them to the Tesseract chamber, far beneath the ground.

Their father stood before the cube, its unearthly blue light illuminating his face, lined and worn with the greatness of his purpose.

“Thanos has accepted my offer,” he told them without preamble. Andrea caught her twin's hand and held it tightly. At last it was happening, after so many years.

“A fitting beginning for the reign of a new breed of gods on Earth,” Andreas breathed.

The Baron turned to face them. “We must go over the plan one more time. Nothing must go wrong.” He smiled at them, his beautiful golden children. “Once he and his minions have served their purpose, we must strike immediately to destroy them.”

“And then we shall be hailed as saviors by the entire world,” Andreas finished. “That is... what is left of it.” The three of them stood close together before the Tesseract, thrilled by the weight of their shared destiny.  

  

“The humans will seek to betray us,” The Other rumbled, even as he strapped on his weapons.

Thanos grinned. “Of course they shall.”

The Other rarely laughed, but he laughed now, before setting off to do his master's work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got the "trying to bag another demigod while you're on a roll" joke from Anne-Li.


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki has performance issues.

Loki and Tony had both been up all night after Tony’s ill-considered request. As a result, they both fell asleep as soon as the “make-up sex” (how typical of Tony to believe that humans had invented the custom) was concluded. Loki woke with late afternoon sunlight filtering through the blinds over them, feeling more contented than he had in years. Even the pain in his head had ebbed to a dull ache.

Loki was famished. He looked at Tony, still sound asleep, and decided not to wake him. Given what he had observed of Tony’s habits, it was probably best to let him sleep when he did. Really, Tony should take better care of himself. Looking after a brain like his was a grave responsibility.

Loki slid out of the bed carefully, materialized his clothes back onto himself, and left the room without a sound. In the deserted kitchen he was still investigating the cabinets when Rogers entered. “How’s the eye?”

“Better. Which of these do you recommend?” Loki held up two cans of soup, both with labels comfortingly bereft of mushrooms.

Rogers looked at them for a second. “Actually, I was thinking of going to a café I like near here for supper. Why don’t you join me?”

Loki was surprised, but accepted at once. Loki did not mistake the soldier’s friendliness for anything more than it was, not from someone as thoroughly virtuous as Rogers, but he encouraged it just the same, careful not to presume too much. It was an old game to him, but now, more than at any time before except when he was held by Thanos, he was playing it for his life.

Rogers watched, fascinated, as Loki cast a glamour on himself, changing his coloring and concealing his bandaged eye. They walked the first block or so without speaking. Finally Loki asked, “Have you taken me out here to deliver a… ‘shovel speech’?”

“A what?”

“I thought it was a common Midgardian term. I was told that often when a human takes a new lover, their friends will threaten them with dire consequences should they break his heart.” Loki frowned slightly. “I am not certain if the shovel is supposed to be the instrument of damage or if it is to dig a grave in which to hide the offender’s corpse.”

“Do you need one?”

“Do you have a big enough shovel?” Loki allowed himself a little smirk.

“Sure, his name’s Bruce.”

Loki’s mouth tightened and he looked away. Damned impudent mortals. Remind them of their place and they presumed to remind you of yours. Fine thanks for his imminent rescue of their realm.

Rogers waited until a woman with four boisterous children in tow passed them before continuing. “I asked you to come away from the Tower because I hoped you might talk to me away from the others and from Jarvis’s surveillance.”

“About?”

Rogers looked at him, slowing his pace a bit. “I want to know what your plan is.”

Loki paused for a moment. “What makes you think-“

“Thor’s told us a lot about you. You _always_ have a plan. ‘Plans within plans,’ as Tony likes to say. You probably had it all worked out the day we brought you here. I want to know what it is.”

“And you imagine I might tell you.”

Everyone wanted to know what Loki was planning. It was flattering, really. He had less power than almost anyone else involved, and yet they all not only did as he prompted them to do, they also tried in vain to guess what his aims might be.

And to think that he had only had to kill a few thousand people to achieve that.

“Tell me your plan. Maybe I can help.”

 _Oh, you will,_ Loki thought. “You won’t,” he said aloud. “You don’t trust me enough. Not yet.”

“You actually think we’re going to start trusting you more?”

Loki considered. He supposed he could tell the lad one of his back-up plans. “I hoped that, after a few battles together, you - all of you - would at least be more receptive.”

“To what?”

Again Loki paused. When he thought the pause was long enough, he said slowly, “I can build a weapon that would destroy Thanos. But there are things I need.”

“What things?” When Loki hesitated again, Rogers insisted, “This is my planet we’re talking about.”

“I would require help from Stark,” he said stiffly. “And… I would have to use the Tesseract.”

“You’re right. We don’t trust you enough. No way are we letting you near that cube again.”

“Even if it were Midgard’s only hope of survival?”

“I don’t think it is.” Rogers frowned. “Is that why you seduced Tony? So he’d let you use the cube?”

The irritation Loki showed was genuine. “I did not ‘seduce’ him. If anything, it was the other way around. You should know him well enough to see that. Bedding down with him has made you all more suspicious of me, not less, as I knew it would.”

Rogers looked thoughtful, and Loki waited, curious, to see what the lad had made of it.

“You still might have helped to save Earth, though,” Rogers said, looking more cheerful. “Now we know that the cube can defeat Thanos. Tony and Bruce will figure it out.”

“They cannot do it without me.”

“I wouldn’t underestimate them if I were you.”

Loki gave his head a weary shake. “Very well. Tell them what I have said, and when they have failed to harness the Tesseract enough times they may request my help and I shall give it.”

Rogers just gave him a jaunty smile. Loki dug his nails into his palms to stop himself from smirking.

Abruptly the smile fell from Rogers’s face. “Listen, you have to promise not to bug me to ask that waitress for her phone number like all the others do.”

Scenting a story, Loki stopped walking, and polite as always, Rogers stopped too. “What waitress?”

“She works here. The Avengers think she flirts with me.” Rogers took a step to evade the irritated people who were walking around them.

“And you don’t?”

He shrugged, looking away. “Maybe she does.”

“But you do not find her pleasing?”

“She’s pleasing!”

“Yet you do not wish to….” Loki did not know how Midgardians courted these days; he gathered that there were no more tournaments in which one could wear a lady’s colors, which he thought was rather a shame. And the Avengers teased Steve often about his supposed innocence in such matters, which he refused to confirm or deny. After a moment Loki settled upon, “Keep company with the lady?”

Rogers turned very red. Oh, he was adorable. “I - no, I mean yes, it’s just - I don’t think this is a good time for that kind of thing.”

Loki said nothing, only gave the soldier a skeptical look.

“We’re not going there unless you promise not to bug me about it.”

Oh, _dear._ It had been so long since Loki had had a chance to make mischief. “I promise,” he said cheerfully.

Rogers’s eyes narrowed. Apparently he had just remembered he was talking to the god of lies.

“I am certain Thor told you that I keep my promises. Usually.” Loki’s smile was not intended to be reassuring.

Rogers scowled for a second and then resumed walking, and when they reached the café went inside. Loki followed, watching everything Rogers did. Judging from her warm greeting, the woman who showed them a seat - outside, in the sunlight, it was so damned good to feel sunlight again - knew Rogers.

After a minute, a pretty blonde girl - not stunning, not beautiful, just a pretty girl with a friendly manner - came to ask what they wanted. She gave Loki a curious glance but her attention was swiftly fastened on Rogers. Loki looked at him. His eyes were glued to the menu as if it held the secrets of the universe. This had to be the young woman in question. The tag on her blouse identified her as “BETH”.

Rogers ordered. Loki had barely glanced at the menu; most of what was on it was unfamiliar to him. Instead he smiled at Rogers. “What do you suggest?”

He looked baffled. “Er. You like chicken, don’t you? They make a good chicken sandwich here.”

“Then that’s what I’ll have.” Loki did not shift his gaze from Rogers. Beth was looking between them curiously.

When Beth returned with their beverages, she asked Loki politely, “So, Steve comes here a lot but I haven’t seen you around before.”

“This is the first time he’s brought me here,” Loki said, still keeping his eyes on the other man. Who was squirming beautifully. “Perhaps we’ll come here again.”

Beth looked at Rogers again as if she were suddenly understanding.

“You are a jerk,” Rogers said very seriously when Beth had left them again.

Loki smiled, very widely. “I am the god of mischief.”

Rogers glared.

“Oh, don’t look like that, I kept my promise. I have not in any way urged you to pursue the young lady.”

Rogers looked away for a second, then back to Loki, unimpressed. “I should’ve known you’d find a loophole. That’s what you do in the myths. Like that time you bet your head and when you lost the bet, said they couldn’t take it because you hadn’t bet your neck.”

“And got my lips sewn shut for it,” Loki finished.

“So the story’s true?”

“Mostly.” Loki smirked, not bothering to elaborate. “Has SHIELD made any progress in finding the cube?”

“Fury says they haven’t.”

Loki did not miss the careful phrasing. “Perhaps I should speak to Fury and see if he is lying. What about this Hydra matter?”

“He was vague about that, which from him might mean that he isn’t sure yet or that he is but isn’t ready to share. Tasha left last night and it probably has something to do with the people who’ve been giving us trouble.”

Loki nodded. “I am certain you will find it before long. If Tony and Dr. Banner do not detect it, SHIELD’s knowledge of suitable facilities will.” He was not going to ask them to let him use the sceptre. Or ask them to let him use the cube. They would have to be the ones to ask.

“Can I ask you something?” The soldier’s boyish face was solemn. Loki schooled his own expression to seriousness.

“Certainly.”

“You’ve never expressed any remorse. Actions speak louder than words, but do you _feel_ it?”

Most societies depended upon making their inmates feel guilty, preferably all of the time, for things they could not help at all. Loki had never quite taken to the habit. He had, however, long ago learned not to reveal this to others; most people believed that feeling guilty was a sign of virtue, and its lack a sign of diabolical evil. It would do him no good to point out that Odin was responsible for every error Loki had made during his brief reign, and for his betrayal of Thor. It would do no good to point out that in invading Midgard, he had only been the tool of another. Indeed, Midgard ought to be thanking him; because of his cleverness, only a few thousand humans had been killed, instead of the lot of them.

They already knew these things to be true. But if he said them, they would be convinced that he was as evil as those who had caused it all. So he chose his words carefully.

“If I could undo all of it, I would.” And that was not even a lie.

The lad nodded, apparently satisfied.

Beth was taking plates of food to three women of varying ages at the next table. She glanced their way, uncertain, and Loki smiled at her. “Do you need anything else?” she asked promptly, her gaze moving between the two of them.

“Not at all. This is a charming place. How long has it been here?” Loki’s words were less important than the warmth in his voice and expression. She responded to them inevitably.

She answered a few trivial questions about the café, and then was emboldened enough to ask, “So, how long have you two, uh, known each other?”

Rogers gave Loki a narrow-eyed look. Loki smiled at the girl innocently. “Only a few weeks, unless you count a brief encounter some years ago. He works with my boyfriend.” A peculiar term, but it seemed to be the accepted one on Midgard.

Beth’s eyebrows went up. “Oh!”

The oldest of the women at the next table turned and broke into their conversation with a raucous laugh. “Doesn’t it just figure! All the good-looking ones are gay. I was just telling Susan-“

“Oh, you ladies still have Steve here to comfort you.” Loki nodded in his companion’s direction, but kept his gaze on the older woman, just a touch flirtatious. Excessively outgoing people like her could be so useful in mischief-making, if one could direct their chatter a bit. Beth was looking at Rogers again. Rogers looked more annoyed than ever. Loki let his eyes twinkle at him for a second as the older woman made some unwarrantedly frank remarks about Rogers’s attractions. And Loki’s, which gave him an excuse to say graciously, “You are very kind.”

The ladies were not inclined to be put off now. With the same kind of unthinking self-confidence with which Thor charged into battles against overwhelming odds, they launched into conversation with Loki and Rogers, asking them both any questions they thought of and sharing any details of their life stories that popped into their heads. Rogers, who was a bit on the introverted side, looked faintly overwhelmed, but Loki made sure to parry most of the sticky questions, chiefly by asking questions of his own, which the ladies showed no hesitation in answering. The café was not very busy and Beth found excuses to hang about and join in the talk.

Loki was enjoying it right up until, in the midst of the three women enumerating their various spawn, Susan, the youngest of them, confessed that her toddler was adopted. “I’m just not sure whether to tell him. I mean, now he’s too young to understand, but when he is, will he feel hurt that his birth parents didn’t want him, or-“

All thoughts of manipulating the conversation evaporated from Loki’s mind. Turning completely in his chair so that he could face the lady, he said, “Susan, I urge you, tell him immediately. Now, when he’s too little to understand, so that when he’s old enough it will already be an accepted fact for him.”

All of them were looking at Loki in surprise now, at the sudden intensity of his manner and words. “But really,” Susan argued after a minute, “can you really know what’s best without having gone through it yourself, I mean, it’s-“

“I was adopted,” Loki cut in. “And I only found out a few years ago, completely by accident.”

“Oh, but how much does it really matter?” the oldest woman boomed, in her gratingly overconfident way. “Your adoptive parents are the ones who raised you, that’s what’s important. They must have-”

She would have said more, but Loki lifted a hand, and something in the gesture stopped even her torrent of words. “I assure you, it does matter. I-“ He stopped himself, looked around at them all, and reined himself in firmly. “There were other factors, granted. Long-standing… troubles within the family. And it was because of those troubles that when I found out, I….” For a second his silver tongue deserted him. Rogers was looking on, his youthful face stony. “Let us say that I did not react well. I, ehm. Caused a great deal of trouble. Which I still am endeavouring to repair. And I broke completely with my family for years. My foster brother and I have been best friends for as long as we can remember, but after I found out we barely spoke for four years. And when we did, it was to fight. We have only now begun to reconcile.”

“Ohhh,” the middle woman said, transported. “That is _so sad.”_

“At least you made up,” Susan said, eyes misty. Loki had forgotten how much women enjoyed sad stories.

“You’ve made up with your parents, too, haven’t you?” the oldest woman said, not really asking, as if holding a grudge against a parent was beyond her imagination. Beth, who had been hovering nearby for the entire tale, glanced at the woman with a slight shake of her head.

“Not yet,” Loki forced himself to say. As if he would ever, _ever_ forgive Odin for all he had put him through. As if he had any hope of Frigga’s forgiveness after all he had done. He looked at Susan. “So I beg you, do not lie to your son. Tell him you chose him from the start. Do not set up revelations for the distant future. I cannot express how betrayed I felt when I found out.” Though at least Susan’s child was probably not a member of an enemy species and she likely hadn’t adopted him for political machinations.

The oldest woman was starting to say something else. Whatever it was, Loki felt certain it was going to be something irritating, so he muttered, “Excuse me,” shoved his chair away from the table, and went to the washroom. It was a handy excuse to be alone for a few moments, to compose himself. He should have shooed those harpies away as soon as they began intruding. A fine result this was of his kind efforts to help Rogers’s dawdling courtship along.

He glanced into the mirror and then stopped, shocked. His glamour had slipped. It was his own raven hair and pallid skin and bandaged eye in the mirror, not the fair-haired illusion he had cast.

Swiftly Loki put up a forcefield to keep the door closed. His glamour must not have faltered before he was safely out of sight or the humans would have reacted. That was a small mercy. He leaned on one of the sinks, clutching it fiercely, digging into his magic to recast the glamour.

With whiplash speed the ache in his head blazed into intense pain. For a few seconds, he was unable to think at all, shaking with agony as he hunched over the sink.

Abruptly the pain dulled and he gasped for breath. When the floor stopped swaying beneath him, he lifted a trembling hand and tried to summon an illusory snake. Nothing. Probably the forcefield he’d put on the door had dissolved and he was going to have to simply hope he wouldn’t be interrupted.

It was the arrow wound. He was still depleted from his years in the dungeon and it wasn’t healing as it should.

If only Midgard had healing stones. If only there were a sorcerer he could trust here. Or anywhere. His magic was the only asset he had in this realm - or any realm, now that he was bereft of Odin’s protection.

He drew some slow, calming breaths. As the panic ebbed, he gathered his power and tried again.

The illusion shimmered over him, then solidified. Once more he was the unthreatening fair-haired Midgardian. His shoulders slumped in relief. He would return to the Tower at once, lock himself in his room, and find a solution. No one could know his magic was faltering. He was vulnerable enough in this realm, surrounded by enemies and conditional friends. And he had nothing else to offer his former enemies in return for their mercy.

Forcing himself to appear serene with the ease of long practice, he emerged. A few steps away from the door Beth stopped him. “Hey, are you okay? I mean, you kind of ran away. I’m sorry if those ladies upset you-“

It never did to leave mischief unfinished. “Just a headache, my dear.” He unleashed his most charming smile upon her and she returned it.

“I can get you some ibuprofen if you need it.”

“You are very kind. There is no need.” He let himself give a little chuckle. “Do forgive me for earlier, Miss. I’m afraid I couldn’t resist teasing my companion.”

She flushed a little as she tried to come up with a response. Loki did not give her time.

“He is so terribly shy. It makes him too easy to make sport of. All of his colleagues tease him dreadfully, and I fear they have been a bad influence upon me.”

Her smile ebbed a little. “You’re his friends, you should be nicer to him!”

Loki gave her a quick flash of sharklike grin. “Perhaps we should restrain ourselves, but it is done with affection.”

The girl was looking offended now. Perfect, she was feeling protective. Thus far he had made her jealous, stirred her emotions with the censored story of his adoption, flattered her, and now made her believe that her handsome crush needed to be looked after. Loki made a bet with himself that he had succeeded where the Avengers’ years of egging Rogers on had not. And all without breaking his promise. Now all he needed to do was give them a moment unsupervised.

“My dear young lady, would you do me a great favor? Give me a couple of minutes, then tell my companion that I have returned home with my headache.”

Promptly the girl was sympathetic again. “Ohh, I hope you feel better.”

She _was_ a nice girl. A suitable match for Rogers. Though Loki doubted the soldier would care for his approval.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, for the record, "It would do him no good to point out that Odin was responsible for every error Loki had made during his brief reign, and for his betrayal of Thor. It would do no good to point out that in invading Midgard, he had only been the tool of another. Indeed, Midgard ought to be thanking him; because of his cleverness, only a few thousand humans had been killed, instead of the lot of them," is Loki's thoughts, not mine. 
> 
> Yes, Odin was the real ultimate villain in _Thor_ and Thanos was the real ultimate villain in _Avengers_ , but that doesn't absolve Loki of all responsibility. But I've written other fic where Loki accepts more of the guilt and feels a lot more remorseful; I decided to do this as a change of pace. 
> 
> I suspect that several years in the future it'll catch up with him and that will be a very bad time for him.


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve has a date. So, for that matter, does Tony.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few people said they didn't get the notification when Chapter 23 was uploaded - I uploaded it shortly before AO3 went down for upgrading - so check to see if you've missed that one.

The Avengers reacted to Steve having a date about the way they would have reacted to a favorite niece’s first ballet recital. They all felt free to shower Steve with advice since there was no danger of his taking any of it.

Tony advised him, “The first thing is, Steve, forget about disco.” 

Unfortunately, Steve hadn’t seen _Twins_ yet and didn’t recognize the quote. “Tony, I slept through disco.” 

“Lucky you.” And Tony couldn’t even sit him down to watch it, not with Loki in the Tower, because _Twins_ was definitely on the list of Movies Loki Should Never Ever Watch. Along with _Prince of Egypt_ and _Warrior_ and pretty much every other movie with fathers and brothers in it.

Clint expressed amazement that Steve had finally asked the waitress out. Steve responded by hunching his shoulders and saying defensively that _she_ had asked _him_ out. “You must have been so shocked!” Clint clutched imaginary pearls. “Modern women, so forward. I bet she’ll expect you to kiss on the first date.”

“Don’t worry, Steve,” Tasha assured him. “If she does, I’ll beat her up for you.”

Steve turned pink and set himself to endure the teasing stoically. Bruce accused him of cradle-robbing, dating a woman who was about a fourth of his age. Thor went on at length about the proper way to ask to wear a lady’s favors in tournament, pretending to be very serious even though he knew perfectly well that Midgard no longer held tournaments. He also helpfully informed Steve that nothing impressed a lady like a freshly slain bilgesnipe.

Loki just sat back listening to it all and smirking. According to Steve the date was Loki’s doing, somehow, so in Tony’s opinion that entitled Loki to be smug. Nice to see the god of mischief using his powers for good.

By the time they saw Steve off, waving handkerchiefs (okay, actually random napkins and towels that happened to be handy) after him, Steve was too annoyed to be nervous, which was probably the best help they could have given him.

With Uncle Sam safely packed off for a night of romance, Tony turned his attention to his own love life. Loki had been quite, ah, affectionate all day. And all night; after coming back from dinner with Cap, while Clint was calling Cap’s cell phone to make sure Loki hadn’t left him dead in an alley somewhere (he hadn’t), Loki had meditated in his own room for a while before slipping back into Tony’s bed. When Tony had woken up, Loki had found ways to keep him there for a while. First sex, then cuddling. Who would have guessed that tall, dark and psychotic would turn out to be a cuddler? 

Loki was like a cat who pretended to disdain petting but dissolved into purrs when an acceptable human stroked him.

Tony had to wait until Loki was asleep before going down to his workshop. And even there, around noon Loki had come in and distracted Tony from work on his anti-Chitauri missile. Not that Tony had minded one bit. Also, Norse god stamina was apparently contagious. Good thing, because Loki had wanted him to top again.

Admittedly, Tony had an ulterior motive for encouraging Loki to fuck him through the mattress yet again tonight, not that it wasn’t great as an end in itself. He needed to get him to talk, and even Norse gods opened up more after a good shag. At least, judging by Tony’s sample size of one.

When Tony had been well fucked (again) and they were both bonelessly relaxed and contented, Loki drowsing with his head on Tony’s chest, Tony spoke as if idly. “So I hear that yesterday our master spy coaxed information out of you that your foster brother and your boyfriend couldn’t.”

“What - oh, you mean Rogers. Indeed. Something about his honest face just dissolved my defenses.” Loki traced random patterns on Tony’s skin. At least, Tony assumed they were random and that Loki wasn’t putting a spell on him.

Damn, sleeping with an evil wizard made you paranoid.

“Doesn’t sound like a bad plan. Using the cube to make a superweapon. But I’m thinking that isn’t your real plan, because you said that requires Thor and I don’t see how he’d come in.”

“It is a backup plan. Not nearly as likely to succeed as my main one.” 

Tony carded his fingers through Loki’s long silky hair, trying to keep the movement steady and hypnotic. “Yeah, I figured you were the type who always has a Plan B, C, D, and all the way through at least R. Might not be a bad idea to get started on Plan B.”

Loki’s fingers stilled for a moment, then resumed their idle movement. “You don’t have the Tesseract right now.”

“No, but I’ve got you. Tell me how I could make a weapon out of it.”

“You couldn’t. If you want to use it against Thanos, you will have to let me wield it.”

“You expect us to believe that?”

“No, but it is the truth. I will tell you everything about how to use it, Tony, but you will not be able to do it without me.” Loki’s fingertips moved over the arc reactor, exploring its contours. Tony wondered, distantly, why he didn’t mind having Loki touch it.

“Because my frail human body can’t handle all that magic?”

“And because it takes decades of training to do that kind of sorcery.”

“Yeah, sez you. You think I can’t do it?”

“I know you can’t. You have the finest mind I have ever seen in a human, but it is simply not possible.”

“I think you’re just telling me I can’t because you know I’ll take it as a challenge.”

Loki smiled against Tony’s chest. “I do like the way you think.”

“Speaking of plans to defeat Thanos, Thor kind of hinted that he has a plan of his own.”

In the darkness Tony could feel Loki stiffening against him. “Did he tell you what his plan entailed?”

“Just that he needs your help.” When that got no reaction, Tony went on, “And that he couldn’t ask you to help with it until you two trusted each other again. Which, according to him, will be when you believe that he loves you enough that you will admit that you’re brothers again.”

Loki groaned. “The fool. I suppose you told him why I will not.”

“No. I really wanted to, but I did promise you, and you still have, what is it, four more days? Jarvis?”

“Three days, seventeen hours and twenty-one minutes, sir,” Jarvis informed them.

“I will talk to him one more time tomorrow.” Loki did not sound happy at the prospect. “I will try again to guide him to put the pieces together. And if he still cannot, I will simply tell him.”

“Are you really so sure the throne thing is a deal-breaker? Because from where I’m sitting, it’s starting to look like you’re just getting off on twisting the knife in the brother daddy loved best.”

For a few seconds Tony thought he might have said the Super Wrong Thing again, but after a tense moment Loki spoke quietly. “You do not understand.”

“Enlighten me.”

The silence that followed was long, but finally Loki spoke. “While I was being roasted in Odin’s dungeon, I intended, when I escaped, to revenge myself upon Thor. I did not intend to kill him or seriously hurt him. I do love him, Tony. He is my brother in my heart if not by birth. But I was going to do _something_ to pay him back.”

“For being daddy’s favorite?”

“No!” Loki rolled away from Tony and onto his back to glower at the ceiling. “For thousands upon thousands of slights. Thor used to make me so angry. Never by doing anything large enough that I could protest without seeming childish. Trivial things, but so many of them, piling up endlessly. When he was too old to force me to steal sweets by holding my magic books hostage, he found other ways of pestering me.” A mirthless chuckle. “Sometimes I thought Thor had an instinct for when I was getting too angry at him and was ready to strike back. He would suddenly do something incredibly kind, or ask for my help, and I could never stay angry.”

“Go on.” Tony said the words as softly as he could. And after a minute Loki did.

“And now he has done it again. He defied his father to break me out of that dungeon and was sent to Jotunheim as punishment, and then somehow persuaded you Avengers to grant sanctuary to your enemy. He asked me to help him defend Midgard. From what you say, when we resolve things between us, he is going to ask me to do sorcery for him, an appeal to my vanity which has never failed him yet. Nor will it this time.”

“And that’s why you’re not going to get back at him?”

“You still do not understand. We did not just love our father. We _worshipped_ him. We thought he was the greatest king in all the history of all the realms. We both wanted to be just like him.”

“So you both followed in his proud tradition of killing frost giants. Which turned out to be one of those ‘do as I say not as I do’ parent deals.”

“You don’t _know._ You do not know all the things I did, trying to win his - approval. For twenty centuries, everything he ever asked of me, everything he ever hinted he might want from me, anything I could think of….” Loki’s voice was raw. For that moment, at least, Tony forgave him everything. There was just no way you could subject anyone to that kind of systematic emotional torture and expect them not to lose it eventually. Odin had a hell of a lot to answer for.

Tony couldn’t think of anything to say. He just waited, not intruding. Eventually, Loki continued speaking. 

“It was obvious even when we were toddlers who the favorite son was. I believed - everyone believed - that he did love Thor. He seemed to dote upon him.” Tony could feel Loki shaking his head on the pillow. “It wasn’t until Thor brought me here and told me what his father did to him for trying to rescue me that I realized the truth. Odin values Thor as he might value an especially fine sword he owned. Thor is useful and impressive and his existence redounds to Odin’s credit. I did not spring from Odin’s loins and so cannot serve as an extension of himself. But he does not _love_ Thor one whit more than he does me. When we each inconvenienced him, his favoring Thor amounted to his inflicting less cruelty upon the son of his own body.”

“So you’re forgetting your revenge plans on Thor because you’ve found out you two are in the same boat?”

Another lengthy silence. “No. Because _he_ found it out.”

Tony frowned. “I don’t get it.”

“If not for my deeds, Thor would still believe his father loved him. I took that from him, without even meaning to. I have _had_ my revenge. And its taste is bitter. I wish for no more. Not against Thor.”

Tony reached for Loki’s hand and pressed it. Slowly Loki turned to lay his head on Tony’s chest once more, his hand resting lightly on the arc reactor. Neither of them moved or spoke for a long while.

“What were you going to do to Thor?” Tony asked at length.

“Probably break up that warrior band of his. I never did much like his friends, and the dislike was mutual. They tolerated me because they believed I was Thor’s brother, and I tolerated them because of their loyalty to him. If I hadn’t valued that, I could have set them at each other’s throats centuries ago.”

“Oh yeah? How?”

“By talking to them. I know everyone’s dirty little secrets. I could talk to them for half an hour and have them all hating each other for the rest of their lives. But I will not, because I want them guarding Thor’s back.” Loki glanced up at him, not lifting his head, and quirked an eyebrow. “I could do the same to the Avengers.”

“Nice try, Mr. I-Use-Antlers-In-All-Of-My-Decorating.”

Loki smirked. “Remember, Barton told me everything while I had him in my thrall. I could utterly destroy your trust in each other. There is one Avenger in particular….” Loki paused, seeming to choose his words. “If I told you all certain things about that Avenger, the rest of you would lose all trust in… him or her. You would all choose sides and the two sides would become adversaries. The Avengers would fall apart in days.”

Well, that couldn’t be Tony himself, because Tony knew all his own dirty secrets and none of them were bad enough to make the team turn on him. And actually, they weren’t even secrets; his life was an open book, and the Avengers already knew the worst about him.

So who was it? Who would be the worst for them to lose? Steve, probably. Not really because he was so emblematic, but because he was the team leader. He knew how to utilize their different talents in every fight, and his guidance wasn’t overbearing like Fury’s. Only his obvious respect for his teammates made it possible for a motley crew like them to accept his authority. Without him, who knew how they’d hold it together. Or if they would. But could Steve - wholesome, innocent Steve, who still blushed when the others told dirty jokes, who held doors for Natasha even after watching her single-handedly beat the tar out of a room full of big guys with weapons - could Steve have any secrets nasty enough to make the team turn against him? Would the Army have let him enlist in the super-soldier program if he had any skeletons in his closet?

Maybe one of the assassins. Clint and Natasha would stick together if one of them was booted, Tony was sure of that, and the dispute could split the team down the middle, depending. But then, they all knew about the red in Natasha’s ledger. Not that many details, but they knew she’d been an assassin for hire. She couldn’t have any secrets worse than that. Clint had been in a similar line of work, but again, they all knew that. Bruce had always had a hot temper, even before his accident, maybe he had done something in a fit of rage before he had the gamma ray thing as an excuse. 

Thor. Of course. Loki knew everything there was to know about Thor, and Asgard’s culture was so different, who knew what Thor had done that would horrify enlightened Midgardians. But no, that didn’t fit. If they found out that Asgardians celebrated their victories by eating babies or something, they would kick Thor off the team, but that wouldn’t destroy the team. They all liked Thor, and he was a useful fighter, but they could get along without him if they had to. It was probably one of the few team linchpins, and really that meant Tony or Steve. And it couldn’t be Tony because he didn’t have any secrets of significance from the Avengers. Hell, he was screwing the supervillain they had first assembled to fight and it hadn’t broken up the team. Which meant it had to be Steve, Mr. Apple Pie himself, with some dark secret Tony couldn’t even guess at.

Loki propped himself on an elbow. “I told you I could do it.” 

Tony met Loki’s sardonic gaze, then swore.

“I did not have to tell you of any terrible guilt borne by one of your teammates. All I had to do was tell you that it existed. I was the enemy of all of you and am called the god of lies, and yet a few words from me had you suspiciously scrutinizing all of your teammates, who have guarded your back and laughed with you and shared pizza with you.”

“If you’re trying to reassure me about working with you, this isn’t exactly a good approach.”

Loki was silent for a moment before he lay back down. “I should have restrained the urge to boast. I suppose you cannot trust that someone with my past could be loyal to his rescuers. But you can trust that I cannot defeat Thanos without the Avengers’ help, and so I will not harm the team in any way. You may perhaps recall that I allowed myself to be shot in order to preserve the team’s unity.”

“As if I could forget.” Tony just let himself drift for a while, fingers still tangled in Loki’s raven hair, Loki’s face pressed to his chest. Tony’s mind wandered, mulling over everything Loki had said, everything Tony had observed, all the factors in the whole complicated situation his life had become.

He wasn’t trying to figure it out, not just now. Which maybe was why the whole scheme suddenly came into focus, like his plans for the first Iron Man suit when he laid the translucent sheets together in the proper alignment.

“Wait. Wait. Whoa. I get it! I know your-“

The next instant Tony’s mouth was covered with a hand as strong and cold as iron. _“Silence!”_ Loki hissed. “Do not say it aloud. Do not whisper it in anyone’s ear. Do not write it down or put it in your computers or hint about it to your shield-brothers. Try not to even think it. The safety of your realm depends upon it. As does mine and Thor’s, if that matters to you.”

Tony made himself relax under Loki’s hand, and when it was lifted, spoke quietly. “You know that it does. Both of you. Let me help.”

“You will.”

“I mean with-“ At Loki’s warning look, Tony raised his hands in surrender and said only, “with the first part. That you need Thor’s help with.” Connections rushed through his mind. “Holy - I think Thor’s plan is probably the same as yours.”

“Very likely.”

“And you claim you’re not brothers. Loki, babe, you cannot expect me to just sit here and worry and wait while you two-“ Tony waved a hand in place of putting any part of the plan into words.

Loki sighed. “I suppose not. But when the time comes to act, you will have to heed our orders, mine and Thor’s.” Tony drew a breath to object but Loki did not let him. “These are matters of _magic,_ Tony. I believe I demonstrated three years ago the peril of meddling with magic one does not understand.”

“Okay, I gotcha. When you guys say, ‘Don’t put that gemstone back in the idol’s head!’ I won’t.” Suddenly restless, Tony got up and reached for his shirt. “I can’t lie still. I’m going to go work on my next suit. Want to keep me company?”

“I suppose I had better.”

In the workshop, Tony went cheerfully berserk, digging out all the experimental upgrades he’d been thinking about. Now was the time to incorporate them, all the ones that he could have functioning in the next couple of days.

Tony had no doubt that his hypothesis about Loki’s plan was correct. It _had_ to be. And it would work. Loki Liesmith had been telling the truth when he had promised him that Midgard would survive. Tomorrow Loki would sit Thor down for a brotherly chat, and one way or another they would work it out, and then it was off to see the wizard.

Loki perched on a stool, watching him work with interest as he always did. Tony took up his prototype gauntlets, filled to bursting with new toys. “Hey, gorgeous, hand me that dog-legged clincher, would you?” Loki stared at him for a moment before glancing around the counters near him. “With the blue handle,” Tony clarified, and Loki picked the blue-handled pliers up, regarding them curiously.

“This is a ‘dog-legged clincher’?” 

Tony wondered if Loki would turn him into a toad when he found out the gag. “Yeah, more versatile than the cat-legged ones, though for some purposes….” He let his voice trail off as if in concentration as he opened the plate on the palm. Loki held the pliers out to Tony and he winced. “Actually, would you mind just putting it down there? I don’t like being handed things.”

Loki obligingly set down the “dog-legged clincher” - and now Tony was never going to be able to think of pliers as anything else - in easy reach. “Why is that?”

“Um. Too many things got handed to me that I didn’t want. Including, on occasion, my own ass.”

Loki didn’t seem to get that little play on words, but dismissed it. “I don’t mind being handed things. Except for spears. No good ever comes of anybody handing me spears.” Abruptly he frowned.

Tony glanced at him as he picked up the newly christened dog-legged clincher and started twisting wires together. “I assume you mean that sceptre slash spear Thanos gave you?”

“And Gungnir.”

“What is it with you Asgardians naming all your weapons? I’m gonna start doing that.” Tony held up the gauntlet and spoke to it. “You are now Fred.” He pointed the dog-legged clincher at its partially assembled mate. “And you are Ralph.”

“We only name enchanted weapons.”

“So what’s the story on Gungnir? What did it do, besides stab people?”

Loki stared at him for a moment, apparently incredulous that anybody could possibly be enough of a dork not to know what Gungnir was. “Gungnir is the symbol of office of the King of Asgard.”

“Oh.” Tony cast about for a change of subject. If any subject other than frost-giantitude was likely to trigger Loki’s less attractive qualities, such as homicidal mania, it was his brief stint as king. 

But before he could find anything to say, Loki was telling him about Gungnir, and about the other weapons of Asgard. Enchanted weapons were rare, it turned out, mostly a privilege of the royal family and a few others.

For hours Loki talked about Asgardian weapons while Tony worked on his suit. At one point, when Tony was concentrating hard on altering his visor, Loki stopped talking. Before Tony had even noticed, Loki was there again, telling him how the Tesseract could be used (by a trained sorcerer) to create a weapon, and a plate of sandwiches had appeared at Tony’s elbow. Tony scarfed them down without tasting them - they could have had mushrooms and cheese popcorn in them for all he knew - and kept working and listening.

He might have kept on like that for days except that eventually Jarvis announced that Fury was in the Tower. “It seems he wishes to brief the Avengers about the people who have stolen the Tesseract, sir.”

“And he came in person? I guess we should be honored. C’mon, Nightmare Moon, let’s hear what Snake Plissken has to say.”

“One day I am going to make you go through all of these nicknames and explain them all.”

“Only if we do it on the ground floor.” 

“Throw somebody out of a window _once_ and they never get over it.”

“Yeah, we puny mortals are sensitive that way.” They stepped into the elevator and Tony pushed the button. 

Loki looked at him, grave. “I am glad I failed to kill you that day, Tony.”

Tony gave him a grin. “I knew you were one of those villains with a soft marshmallowy center.”

Loki snorted. “In recent years, the most fortunate things that have happened to me have been failures. I failed to kill you, I failed to kill Thor, I failed to kill all of the frost giants in existence.”

“All but one.”

“No, I tried to kill myself, too.”

“Oh. Right. Well, _I’m_ glad you failed at that.”

They looked at each other and smiled, just as the doors slid open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the unlikely event that anyone doesn't know what a "dog-rigged clincher" is, it's one of the peculiar tools Belle's father used in Disney's _Beauty and the Beast_.


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki tries to heal, Fury has new information, and Steve is late getting back from his date.

When Loki had returned to the Tower from dinner with Rogers, he had at once locked himself in his room and gone into trance, searching for a solution to his faltering magic. He had even tried to summon healing magic, even though he had known since adolescence that he had no gift of that sort, but the torn path in his brain continued to bide its time. It would heal itself, but there was no rushing it.

Access to some sort of artifact, something whose power could do part of the work for him, would have helped. But the cube was gone and his sceptre carefully watched, and if he defied the humans and seized it, all the good will he had striven to build with them would be ruined. 

Never mind. When the battle he was awaiting came, Thor would give the sceptre to him, no matter what the mortals said.

But there was one more artifact in the Tower, right in the heart of Loki’s lover. Absurdly symbolic, that. The arc reactor generated far more energy than was necessary to keep the shrapnel out of Tony’s heart (and Loki was going to have to do something about that shrapnel, when he was able to enlist the aid of Asgardian healers), but of course Tony couldn’t know how to use a spark of the Tesseract more efficiently. 

And so he had gone to Tony, slipped into the bed with him and rested his head on Tony’s chest, his injured eye as close to the arc reactor as possible. Tony had awakened before long and they had coupled languidly, Loki still drawing energy from Tony’s heart. He had fallen asleep after, and awakened to find himself alone in Tony’s bed. He’d gone to Tony’s workshop and lured him to the futon with ease. Then that night he had taken the man to bed again, continuing to draw on the arc reactor’s power, paying Tony back for the magical energy with ecstasy. 

The sex was excellent, even if Loki did have ulterior motives for it.

The arc reactor was helping, Loki could feel it, but still the healing would take time. For now, he would have to do his best to avoid depleting his magic and hope for the best. 

Plans that included the words “hope for the best” never ended well, in his experience.

Speaking of plans, Tony pieced Loki’s grand plan together. Loki had known he would, given enough time. And of course Tony wanted to take part. Duty and adventure and loyalty, all of it was calling him. Really Loki shouldn’t let him, it was too dangerous for a mortal, but in Tony’s place he would hardly appreciate being told to stay home and be safe (Thor had told Loki that on a few occasions, and Loki had wanted to club him over the head for it).

And so they finished the night in Tony’s workshop, while Loki talked about magic and Tony made a more magnificent suit than any that had gone before. In the morning, Fury came to the Tower to tell them what he had learned about the people who had seized the Tesseract.

Tony and Loki stepped out of the elevator. Fury didn’t look happy to see Loki, so Loki gave him a charming smile. A tall brunette Loki recalled seeing on the flying fortress was with him; a shield-maiden, judging by her stance. Thor was offering them coffee, hammering them with sunshine and hospitality. Romanoff and Banner were already there, sipping cups of their own.

Tony went to Thor to snag a coffee for himself. “Thanks, Bubbles. You want any, Buttercup?” he asked Loki. “Tash, you’ll have to be Blossom, you’re the only ginger we have.”

Romanoff looked around at the others. “Does anyone know what he’s talking about?”

Everyone looked blank except for Banner. “He means the Powerpuff Girls.”

“Ten points to Ravenclaw! Hey, we should Sort ourselves. No points for correctly Sorting our resident Norse gods. Heck, they're even wearing their House colors.”

Banner gave a little chuckle. “I’m sure there’ll be no debate there.”

Barton joined them. Tony glanced around. “Jarvis, where’s Steve?”

“Captain Rogers never came home last night, sir.”

A gleeful smile spread over Tony’s face. “Oho! Could the cherry be gone from the apple pie? Beth’s a fast worker.”

“Tony, don’t hassle him about it,” Barton said.

“Aw, c’mon, it’s a rite of passage. A celebration!”

“Agent Hill, will you please call Rogers?” Despite Fury’s polite phrasing, his tone left no doubt that he was issuing an order.

“So Blossom and Fury are obviously Slytherins." 

"Tony, we tolerate your nicknames because you never use the same one twice," Natasha warned. 

Tony made a show of sidling away from her and hiding behind Thor, who only smiled and stood there being huge and muscle-bound. "I think Clint’s actually a Hufflepuff.” 

“Am not. I’m a Gryffindor.”

“Are not. Cap’s a Gryffindor, no doubt about that. What about me? Am I more a Slytherin or a Gryffindor?”

“You’re a Ravenclaw, Tony,” Banner informed him.

“Aw, c’mon. I’m sneaky like a Slytherin. I have more guts than sense like a Gryffindor.”

“Yeah, but your primary characteristic is intelligence.”

“What are you buttering me up for? Whatever it is, the answer’s yes.”

“Sir,” Hill addressed Fury, “Captain Rogers isn’t answering his phone.”

“Jarvis, activate Cap’s tracker, would you? He didn’t like having it, but I knew we’d need it sooner or later. All the Earthling Avengers have them,” he added to Loki.

“Captain Rogers appears to be in Queens, sir. Near the young lady’s apartment.”

“I’ll suit up and go fetch him.”

“Tony, don’t embarrass him,” Fury warned, glowering.

“Scout’s honor.” And Tony was off.

Thor brought a cup of coffee to Loki and put a hand on his shoulder for a moment, smiling at him. As he sweetened and iced the drink, Loki could not help returning the smile. He was still as susceptible as ever to Thor’s boisterous charm. He wished desperately, and not for the first time, that Thor really was his brother.

But then, if he were, there would be no way for Loki to remove himself from the competition Odin had forced the two of them into. The throne would have stood between them always.

After Fury left, Loki would take Thor away from the others and make him see, somehow. Thor would know that never again would Loki try to take what was his. And once that was settled between them, they and Tony would….

Tony landed on the balcony, alone. His robots removed his armor as he strode inside. When his faceplate was lifted away, his expression was grim. In one gauntleted hand he held a woman’s handbag. The robots took off one of his gauntlets and he transferred the bag to his unadorned hand before they removed the other.

Everyone fell silent, watching him. 

Tony stepped inside. “With everything that’s been going on, I was worried about saying it over the comm. Fury, if you’ve got anyone left you can trust in SHIELD, you’d better send them to where I found this. It was in a dumpster. Jarvis has the location.”

Fury set his jaw. “Where you found what?”

Tony emptied the bag onto the counter. Among the items that spilled out were a wallet with a photo ID of “Beth McGavran” displayed through clear plastic, and a bloody white handkerchief. Fury nudged the handkerchief open with a pen. Inside was a tiny device of blood-smeared plastic and metal. Rogers’ tracker.

They all gazed in heavy silence. 

Tony was the one who finally said the words.

“They’ve got Steve.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It amuses me that in the Avengers/Harry Potter crossover fic and art I've seen, there's Sortings of some of the Avengers that I disagree with, and I've been in more than one debate about which House Tony belongs in, but there is no disagreement whatsoever about which Houses Thor and Loki would get Sorted into.


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers plan the rescue of Captain America.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took me so long! I was out of town for a few days, and then the RL monster attacked. We are getting on the home stretch of this fic, though.

Most of them just sat around kind of numb for the next few minutes. Fury was the first to snap out of it, making a few rapid calls on his cell phone, sending his minions to sweep the area where Tony had found Beth’s handbag and question her friends and co-workers. Thor paced, restless. The big guy was at his best when he had something to smite. Loki looked more troubled than Tony would have expected. But then, Cap had been nice to him. In the circumstances, that probably meant kind of a lot.

Minions dispatched, Fury reluctantly began the briefing he had come for. It was relevant. Once he had reason to suspect that Hydra might still exist, a lot of apparently disconnected crimes and clandestine organizations suddenly fell into a pattern. “We now believe that Hydra is still active. Based in South America, most likely the grandkids of the original.”

“Hydra.” Bruce took off his glasses. “As in, the people who tried to replicate the supersoldier serum back in the 40’s.”

“Yes. And they have Captain Rogers now,” Maria Hill answered, face grave. “They probably intend to try to reverse engineer the serum from his blood.”

Tony stood up. “Loki. Thor.” He jerked his head towards the elevator and headed for it. Both of them followed him without a word.

Fury and Barton both moved to stand in front of them. “Stark, you can’t do this.”

Tony’s eyes were hard. _“They’ve. Got. Steve.”_

Thor stepped forward and very gently pushed them both out of the way, giving Clint a clap on the shoulder that was probably supposed to be reassuring. Tony and Loki followed him into the elevator.

None of them said anything as they went down to the fourth laboratory level. Tony’s retinas were scanned (a procedure which had given him the creeps since Stuttgart, but there was no getting around it) and the three of them entered the vault.

Thor stood with Mjölnir at the ready, even though he obviously didn’t believe he would need it. Tony opened the case and began to take the sceptre out, then remembered what Loki had said about being handed spears. He stood back instead and let Loki remove it himself.

Loki took it out slowly, shaking his head very slightly as he did. As his fingers went around it he closed his eyes for a moment. Then he turned away from the case, drawing a deep breath and squaring his shoulders.

His face drawn in concentration, Loki said words that Tony didn’t understand but that made the hair on his arms stand up. He drew runes in the air which lingered there, glowing blue. Tony felt energy gathering in the air; he tingled with it, like static electricity was building up around him.

Finally a globe appeared in the center of the array. Earth. The model spun a few times and then stopped on a dime, an intense little light shining in one spot. The array then zoomed in, showing the area around the light in minute detail.

“You got this, Jarvis?” Tony murmured, his gaze intently on Loki. He had seen Loki doing magic before, but this was orders of magnitude higher than anything he had so far witnessed.

If Loki wasn’t planning to turn on them - and Tony didn’t believe he was - then getting him out of that dungeon was the smartest thing they could have done.

“I have it, sir. The location is in a desert region of Chile, coordinates 36.15 degrees south, 71.833333 west.” And Jarvis was pulling up maps and satellite footage and projecting them a few inches away from Loki’s magical images.

Loki began to put the sceptre back in its case. Thor took a step forward. “Hold on to that, brother. You will need it in the coming battle.”

Loki paused, holding the sceptre over its resting place. “Foster brother,” he corrected, his tone sorrowful. Which was the closest he had yet come to knuckling under on that point, and Thor noticed it and smiled. “And I doubt your human shield-brothers will be pleased.”

Thor’s hand fell onto Loki’s shoulder, undeterred by Loki’s wince at the jarring impact. “I will not have my brother going into such a perilous battle inadequately armed. If they object, they must take their objections to me.”

The two held each other’s gazes for a long intense moment before striding to the elevator. They moved quickly with those mile-long legs, but Tony refused to jog to keep up. Tall guys could either slow the hell down or damn well wait.

Besides, the view from back here was great.

Back in the common room, Tony spoke before anyone could comment on Loki’s having the sceptre back. “You were right, Fury. The cube’s in South America.”

“Let us be off!” Thor was already marching to the balcony for takeoff.

“Hold on, Goldilocks. We need a plan of attack,” Tony said, then winced.

“He’s right,” Natasha confirmed. “You think they’re not ready for us? You don’t kidnap Captain America if you don’t think you can take on the Avengers.”

“And they left us a trail of bread crumbs,” Clint said, nodding at the handbag. “They didn’t have to leave those where we could find them. They _want_ us to come after them.”

“Looks that way. And they’ve got the girl too.”

Clint crossed his arms. “Unless they killed her.”

Fury shook his head once. “They’ve obviously been planning this for a long time. I’m thinking they’ll probably keep her alive for added leverage - against us and Rogers.”

“We hope so, anyway,” Hill said. “We’ll assume she’s alive until we know differently.”

They retreated to the ops room with a vat of coffee to plan.

The first order of business, naturally, was Loki’s sceptre. Thor didn’t bother to argue, he just stood in front of Loki and invited anyone who wished to retrieve it. Of course there weren’t any takers, none of them could go toe to toe with the god of thunder, and said god of thunder proved impervious to all efforts at persuasion.

The others gave it up as a bad job sooner than they would have if Steve hadn’t been in the clutches of neo-Nazis set on doing the gods only knew what, and got down to planning.

Tony noticed, however, that everyone but him and Thor kept as much distance as possible between them and Loki. Well, fine. It was their job to guarantee that Loki didn’t go rogue, he’d known that the first time he’d floated the idea of letting Loki use the sceptre to find the cube.

“We’ve got to plan this one carefully,” Bruce said. “We don’t have Steve to coordinate us, and we’re a man down.”

“You’re also a man up,” Fury stated. “Agent Hill, this is not an officially sanctioned mission. You’re free to go.”

“Noted, sir.” She didn’t move a muscle. Fury’s mouth did something that Tony suspected was the distant cousin of a smile.

“Nick. You saying you’re coming with us? Into the field?”

“I’m not letting you guys fight a bunch of motherfucking Hydra goons in their own motherfucking compound without adult supervision.”

Tasha said, “It might not be enough. We can’t use SHIELD agents, we don’t know which ones are compromised.”

“If you're afraid of getting a rotten apple, don't go to the barrel. Get it off the tree,” Fury said.

“What, you think we should raid the trainees?”

“No, I just always wanted to say that. Now. If Hydra is prepared for the Avengers, we have to find ways of surprising them.”

“I just added some new toys to the suit,” Tony said. He didn’t mention that he had a different big battle in mind when he did it. “Aaaand… I think I’ve got a few things the rest of you might like to play with. I still have Vanko’s laser whips. Who here knows how to use a bullwhip?”

“I do,” said Hill. Everyone looked at her. She lifted an eyebrow and said nothing.

“Okay. How would they prepare for the Avengers? Let’s look at every one of you.” Fury looked at Thor. “Thor, do you have a Kryptonite?”

At Thor’s puzzled frown, Tony rephrased. “If humans were going to fight you, Thor, what would you advise them to have?”

“Bruce Banner. Or a lot of tanks.”

That got a strained but much-needed laugh. “So brute force. We’ll assume they’re not short on that.” Fury looked at Clint and Tasha. “The same with you two. Enough big guys or big weapons and they’ve got you. Stark. Any chance they could use an EMP on your suit?”

“Got it covered. I could brag about my upgraded version of an ovonic threshold device, but Bruce is the only one who would get how awesome it is.”

“It’s awesome,” Bruce confirmed.

“I don’t think we need to worry about the Hulk,” Fury said. He was turning to Loki when Tony had a thought.

“Fuck, yes, we do. Loki, remember when you first got here and told us what you’d have done if you’d actually wanted to take over Earth? What you said you’d do to Bruce?”

“Send him to a distant realm, perhaps Jotunheim.”

“They’ve got the cube. They can do it.” Tony looked at Bruce. “Sorry, Jolly Green Giant, looks like you’re sitting this one out.”

Bruce shook his head. “I can’t just stay here while you guys are-“

“Dude, I do not want you sent into deep space.”

Bruce considered. “I could be the diversion. Hulk out far away enough from the compound that they can’t use the cube on me, but close enough to keep some of them busy while you guys do the snatch-and-grab.”

“Sounds good. So Fury, I’m sure you have a lot of contingency plans for how to fight Loki if he goes Evil Overlord again. What would you do if you were Hydra and expecting him to drop in?”

Fury gave Loki an unfriendly look. “I would have a lot of great big guns. And flamethrowers. We’ve seen how much damage he can shake off. Just like with the rest of you guys, I’d rely on overwhelming him, not on having one magic weapon that could neutralize him.”

Loki said slowly, “They know I am here. They gave ‘Magister Horus’ that amulet and wand. They likely have more magical weapons in store, to use against me.”

“Can they take you down?” Tony asked. That got a devilish grin out of Loki that Tony couldn’t help returning.

“Not a chance.” Sobering, he said, “The only magical item on Midgard that might threaten me is the Tesseract, and they know little about its use.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure of that. They’ve been after it for a long damn time.”

“We must take it from them. As early in the attack as possible.”

Fury leaned forward. “Wait, wait. They have the cube. You got here through the cube the first time. Can’t you magic yourself to wherever it is, and maybe take the rest of us with you?”

The Asgardians and the scientists all shook their heads. Loki began to speak, then said, “Perhaps it would be better if one of the human sorcerers explained.”

Fury raised his eyebrows, looking unimpressed. “Yeah, one of you _human sorcerers_ explain it to me.”

Bruce took off his glasses and gestured with them as he spoke. “The Tesseract is actually a portable station on a sort of network of wormhole stations. If you have the tech - or the magic - you can travel from one wormhole to another, including to wherever the Tesseract is. You can’t just go to it from anywhere, you have to be at a wormhole station.” He looked at Thor. “Are there any on Earth?”

“My father said there were not.”

Loki smiled sourly. “I told him so, but of course he did not believe me.”

Fury frowned. “But with the cube, you can go anywhere.”

“If you are a sufficiently powerful sorcerer, yes.”

“Thor took you back to Asgard with that thing. Are you going to tell me Thor’s a powerful sorcerer?”

“My father gave me the apparatus in which we put the Tesseract,” Thor explained. “It was imbued with his magic and took us where he directed it to.” He looked at Loki unhappily, probably remembering the results of that mistake.

Then they got down to brass tacks. Starting with the means of approach. “They already know we’re coming,” Fury reminded them. “We don’t need them seeing us galloping along the road.”

Problem was, given the barren terrain surrounding the Hydra compound, there didn’t seem to be much choice, no matter how they sliced it. The best they could do would be to approach in a sufficiently rapid aircraft to limit how much notice Hydra got.

“So we’re going to have to just let them see us coming,” Tony said eventually, unhappy.

Loki had been quiet during this entire segment of the discussion. Now at last he spoke up, softly. “There is another way of reaching them.”

“You said you couldn’t use the cube for that.”

“I can’t. But there are other ways of… of making a fold in space and transporting oneself.”

“Go on.”

Loki tapped his fingers thoughtfully on the table. “When I was still fairly young I learned ways of traveling between realms without the Bifrost or the Tesseract or any other relic. I could transport us right into their lair. They would not know we were approaching until the moment we arrived.”

“Why didn’t you use that to escape?” Bruce asked, intrigued.

“Even if my magic was not being depleted by torture, the spell requires preparation. Ritual. The mustering of considerable dark energy. I would have been stopped had I tried.”

“Is it safe?” Clint was, understandably, suspicious.

“Much safer than your cars and planes.”

“Have you ever transported another living person this way?”

Loki smiled thinly. “Not a person, but several animals. I knew that one day I might need to use this to rescue - someone,” and Tony would bet his entire fortune that by “someone”, Loki meant “Thor”, “so I tried doing this with animals to test its safety. They all came through with no harmful effects.”

Thor was staring at his foster brother. “Is that how you brought in the frost giants, the day I was to be made king?”

Loki swallowed. “Yes.”

“How long have you been able to do this?” 

“Since I was about forty.”

“And you have kept it a secret all these years?”

“Why would I tell anyone?”

Tony thought, _I knew he was holding out on us._ “And you’re telling us now? Showing your hand?”

“I think the circumstances merit it.”

“Merit revealing a secret you’ve kept for two thousand years? I think we should be honored.”

“I was Thanos’s instrument in imperiling your realm. You humans saw me only as an enemy who brought monsters to your world, and yet you helped Thor to rescue me from a torture chamber. My debt for your mercy is incalculable. As is my debt to Thor, who loves your realm and wishes to defend it.”

Thor dropped his hand on Loki’s neck. And Loki's eyes did something then. Like his big brother had finally after centuries lived up to his expectations, and he was proud and grateful and astonished all that the same time. And like he finally really felt like Thor actually loved him, though God knew - all the gods knew - that there should have been plenty of proof by now.

Watching them, something fell into place for Tony. Thor was all the family Loki had left. And as his older brother, Thor was now filling the father figure role for him, whether either of them realized it or not.

Clint, for one, did not seem especially moved. “Am I seriously the only one who has a problem with letting this guy,” he jabbed a finger in Loki’s direction, “transport us through a wormhole? How do we know he won’t just send us _all_ into deep space? Maybe keeping Tony because Tony’s a good lay? No one else left to keep him in line, no one else between him and the throne-“

“That’s easy,” Bruce said, serene. “I won’t be traveling with the rest of you. If any of you don’t make it there in one piece….” He smiled. 

Loki managed to look as if he were merely having his patience strained by children, not threatened by the only human alive who could actually harm him. “I don’t _want_ the throne. And I doubt Tony would continue to gratify my lusts if I killed all of his friends.”

“Yeah, I have a strict no-lust-gratifying policy for guys who kill all my friends. Just ask the last few guys who did it. One of them slept on the couch for a whole month.”

Fury rolled his eyes briefly. “Yeah, you’re a comedian, Stark. All right, people. Let’s get our plan worked out in detail. We’ve got to move fast.”

Tony smiled grimly. “And then we’ll suit up. And show the world what happens when you mess with an Avenger.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't really understand how the [ovonic threshold things](http://standeyo.com/News_Files/NBC/EMP.protection.html) work, but we can assume that Tony's improved on whatever exists here on [Earth-1218](http://marvel.wikia.com/Earth-1218).
> 
> The coordinates of Hydra's compound are those of [Colonia Dignidad](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonia_Dignidad), an actual Nazi enclave that was broken up a few years ago.
> 
> While I was working on this chapter, it occurred to me that [Loki should be able to transport himself to wherever the cube is](http://mosellegreen.tumblr.com/post/47662722556/things-you-figure-out-when-you-write-fanfic). I was flailing for a way around this when I discovered that a brilliant awesome blog [did it for me](http://exploringmcuasgard.tumblr.com/post/47214869789/sorry-forgot-tags-had-to-repost-this-is-the).
> 
> “If you're afraid of getting a rotten apple, don't go to the barrel. Get it off the tree,” is a quotation from the classic movie _The Untouchables_.


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The rescue mission begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Grey Bard for hard work betaing.

Letting Loki teleport (for lack of a better word) them all without understanding the physics of it really, really bothered Tony. But there just wasn’t time. “You are telling me all about this later,” he informed Loki, who smiled just a little in reply.

“Mustering dark energy” really did turn out to be pretty attention-getting. It took a little over half an hour of Loki chanting and drawing runes in the air while eldritch blue light flickered out of nowhere and that static-electricity feeling built up again, only magnified a few zillion times. The humans - Tony, Fury, Hill, Natasha - stood there fidgeting, getting more nervous with every minute. Thor, who was probably used to this stuff, just stood immobile as a mountain, which was kind of reassuring.

After that kind of preparation, the actual transport was anticlimactic. Loki had told them it would be. A hole opened in space and they stepped through it and it closed behind them. Simple as that. Which was good, because they were hoping not to alert the bad guys to their presence right away.

Loki had opened the portal right beside the Tesseract. A neon-lit basement room. Four guards, because the real security was technological.

Thor seized the nearest guard and held him, hand over the guard’s mouth, with insulting ease. Fury and Natasha took out two more, while the fourth was the lucky one to get poked in the chest with Loki’s Glowstick of Destiny™.

“How long before we’re caught?” Loki asked his new flying monkey, even as he inflicted the sceptre on the one Thor was holding as well. 

“They’ll see us on the security cameras, sir, we’ve got to move fast.”

Tony had heard about the sceptre’s effect. He had seen Erik Selvig’s glassy eyes. But seeing someone just rolling over like that, in a matter of seconds, was fucking scary. Even if it was being used on the bad guys.

They had agreed on this before setting out. They had decided that to retrieve Steve and the cube, not to mention Beth who was now qualified to win every possible “worst first date ever” contest, it was justified. Loki had accepted a detailed list of conditions about how he would use this power on this mission, stipulations intended to relieve the humans’ consciences.

Even so, seeing this random bad guy just turning into a drone made Tony sick. He swore to himself on the spot that he would never agree to this again, not ever, no matter what was at stake.

“I cast a glamour over the room the instant the portal was opened. It’s unlikely the monitors saw more than a flicker, if that. What else?”

The guard just accepted that Loki could do that. “We call in every half hour. A new shift will relieve us about two hours from now. At 1700 hours SHIELD is going to attempt to raid us; we could make our getaway while everyone is occupied with that.”

Fury had known that SHIELD had moles, but he didn’t look happy at having it confirmed like this. Or, let’s be honest, he looked even less happy than usual. SHIELD’s scheduled raid was a decoy, obviously, intended to make Hydra think they knew when rescue was coming for Cap.

Natasha and Hill were tying up the two un-brainwashed guards. The puppetized ones were now side by side, at attention, awaiting Loki’s orders. Tony had found a computer terminal and was already hacking into it. 

Loki inclined his head to the large glass booth in the center of the room. It was about ten square feet, a pedestal in the center with a thick concrete box on it. “The cube is there?”

“Yes, sir. There’s a sensor that gets tripped if the cube is moved.” Yeah, these guys saw _Raiders of the Lost Ark_. “And the booth has thermal sensors that will set off alarms all over the compound if anyone goes into it.”

Loki frowned. “Thermal sensors?”

“They monitor the temperature in the room,” Tony explained. “If anybody goes in there, the sensors will detect their body heat and trip the alarm.”

“Backup will come immediately, a steel door will seal off the entrance, and steel bars will slam down around the cube,” agreed brainwashed guard number one.

“How do we disable it?”

Tony took a look at the booth. “It’s not that easy. Severing the connectors would set off the alarms too.”

The others were now stationed at the room’s only entrance, except for Thor, who was scrutinizing the booth. It must seem pretty flimsy to the god of thunder. “I am sure Mjölnir could break through the bars and door. And then if need be, Loki can use the Tesseract to transport us to safety.”

Fury scowled. “That leaves too much time for them to hurt Rogers and the civilian.”

“I’m open to suggestions,” Tony said mildly.

“Can’t you hack it?”

Tony sighed. “I’m flattered at your faith in me, Nick, but a system like this has a lot of redundancy. If we had a few hours, sure, but we don’t have a few hours. Loki, any more rabbits in your hat or are we going to have to just let Captain Hammer smash the glass and take it on the chin?”

Loki was staring morosely at the booth. “The Norns make sport of me.”

“What?”

Loki turned to his flying monkeys. “Where are Captain Rogers and his lady friend?”

They gave directions. It sounded like the compound was a maze. That was okay, they had the guards and Tony had downloaded a map from the computer into the suit. There were probably booby traps that weren’t on this version of the map, but this dream team could totally handle it.

“Have they been harmed?”

“No, sir. But Rogers is under sedation.” 

Hell. Sedating Captain America took a lot of dope. Tony shuddered. 

Loki considered for a moment. “You two, take Thor to Rogers and the girl and help him to rescue them. Obey him as you would me.” He looked at the humans stationed by the door. “I’ll leave it to you to decide who’s going to accompany Thor.”

“And what are you going to be doing?” Fury was glowering, suspicious.

Jarvis sent a message across Tony’s screen. “Hey, William Tell and Dr. Jekyll have landed. And Hyde has joined the party.” 

“Stark, is there a reason you can’t just say, ‘Barton and Banner have arrived and Banner has Hulked out to create a distraction’?”

“Where’s the fun in that? Okay, so, are we going to wait for Thor and co. to find Rogers, and then smash the glass and let the bad guys come?”

Loki looked grim. “I believe I can get to the cube without setting off the alarm. But they should try to retrieve the Captain before I begin, in case it does not work.”

“So you can send Thor away and grab the cube for yourself,” Fury accused. Loki cast him a withering glance.

“Stay here and supervise me yourself if you like.” Loki’s glance moved to Tony. “Tony, I would prefer that you stay here. Thor, I suggest you go to find Rogers.”

Thor nodded and took off, the guards trailing after him. Fury hesitated for a second before ordering Natasha to go with him. Then he trained his Phase 2 blaster - one of the Destroyer-based ones, something that might actually harm an Asgardian - on Loki. “Go ahead.”

Loki looked indifferent to the threat, as usual, possibly because he wasn’t going to screw them and so the threats were moot. Hopefully. “Tony, cut a hole in this glass for me to walk through.”

“Sure.” There weren’t any tripwires or anything embedded in it. Nice fancy lock on the door, though. People always felt safe with a good lock and never thought enough about the wall. Tony cut a nice neat hole with his gauntlet laser, large enough that Loki would only have to duck down a little. That’s what he got for being tall.

Tony stepped back and gestured to it grandly, like he was ushering him into a fancy restaurant or something. Loki looked very unhappy.

And then he looked… blue.

The blueness crept over him, and odd symmetrical lines appeared on his face, and his visible eye was _red_.

That red eye met Tony’s, full of grim challenge and bitterness. Tony found his voice. “Is this….”

“What you wanted to see.” 

“Why…” Tony couldn’t find the words, not for this moment.

“ _Frost giant,”_ Loki said, as if that explained everything. His mouth twisted, a wry expression Tony had seen many times before. Loki’s face wasn’t really different this way, aside from the coloring. And the lines. “I won’t be setting off any heat sensors like this.”

“And that’s why you sent Thor away. You didn’t want him to see you like this.”

Loki didn’t answer, just stepped through the hole. No steel doors or bars clanged down. It was working. Tony just feasted his eyes. Loki might never let him see this again. 

Loki went to the pedestal and lifted the lid off the concrete box. They had talked about this, Tony knew he was creating force fields to make the box feel like the lid was still in place. And he would do the same when he lifted the cube.

A moment later the cube was in the holder Tony had thrown together that morning. Loki stepped out of the booth and the blueness faded away, leaving him with his usual coloring. He looked tired.

“What the hell was that?” Fury demanded. Hill was watching them alertly, in fighting stance.

“A long story,” Tony replied, moving to take the cube from Loki, just so Fury wouldn’t have to be antsy. “Let’s go help the others. Loki? You okay?”

Loki swayed, his skin went from pale to chalky, and then he fell to the floor on his knees, one hand pressed to his injured eye, face twisted in pain. Tony put the cube’s receptacle onto his back - he’d added a bracket to his suit to hold it just for this - and bent over, frantic. “Loki!”

Steel bars clanged down around the concrete box, a steel door clanged down on the entrance. The alarm had been tripped. They were trapped.

“I knew this was a bad idea,” Fury growled, stepping back to watch the door. He spoke into his comm. “Romanoff? Jig’s up. We’re stuck, for now.”

“Copy that.”

Shit. Loki had done too much magic, it was too much with his arrow wound, they had relied on him too much. They shouldn’t have split up, Thor would have hammered their way out of there with no trouble. Or maybe this had been the best choice, too late to second-guess now.

Loki gasped and shuddered. It looked like the spasm of pain had passed, but he was still shaking. Tony made his voice confident. “Loki. It’s okay. Fred here,” he lifted his gauntleted left hand, “can blast us out of here. If Thor doesn’t get here with his hammer first.” 

“I shall be all right in a moment,” Loki said through gritted teeth.

“Usually you’re a better liar than that,” Tony shot back, and went to the door. 

“Can you blast through it with the suit?” Fury asked.

“I think so, but it’s thick. It’ll take a couple of minutes.”

“And there’ll be guards on the other side,” Hill said grimly.

“But we’ve got you to whip them into shape.” Tony would have winked at her, but she wouldn’t be able to see it through the suit.

“Any dominatrix jokes and I’ll show you what I know about pain,” she informed him.

“I just might have taken you up on that, but at the moment I happen to be spoken for.”

“Tony.”

It was Loki’s voice. Tony turned to find Loki standing beside him, still looking a bit worse for wear but no longer shaking. 

“I can blast the door open with my sceptre,” he said. “I don’t dare try to use the cube to transport us just now. If I open the door, are we ready for the guards?”

Hill pulled the laser whips from their holsters. “Yes.”

The three humans took up stances beside the doors. Loki stood back, lifted his sceptre, and fired.

There was a great big boom, and when it cleared Loki was beside Tony and guards were pouring in. In another second it was a proper melee, lots of big guys with big guns trying to take down a superhero, a Norse god with a magic wand, and two superspies with weapons that would have made James Bond green with envy.

It was awesome.

Tony had to stay focused on his own fighting, but from what he was able to notice of the others’, Loki had everyone’s back. He wasn’t sure how many times it happened, but more than once, when the others were in a tight spot, Loki would blast their opponent, or fling a dagger into him. Just as he always had when he fought with Thor, according to Thor’s stories.

Also, Hill hadn’t been kidding when she said she knew how to use a bullwhip. If he hadn’t been busy blasting everything in sight Tony would’ve loved to watch her work. Soon she was the center of the fight, like a lion tamer, while the rest of them were on the fringes, engaging the ones she left for them. 

When there were only three guards left standing, the three reluctantly dropped their weapons. “You will never get out of here,” one of them sneered.

“Indeed.” Loki stepped forward and put the sceptre to the man’s chest. The man’s eyes clouded. “Tell me why. Exactly.”

Tony wasn’t getting any fonder of this.

The newest Stepford guard rattled off more details about the security. Then Tony said, “Who wants to bet they’ve got all kinds of fun traps they’re not telling the spear carriers about? We can’t get sloppy here.”

“True,” Loki agreed, and lifted his sceptre, stepping toward the two remaining guards.

“Don’t,” Tony said.

Loki looked at him. “They must not give additional information to their compatriots.”

“Then we’ll tie them up or knock them out. We don’t need more mind slaves.”

Loki gave him a long look, then nodded and stepped back to let Fury do the honors of hitting them on the head. Tony activated the comm in his helmet. “Guys? We’re going to move. You okay?”

Natasha answered, sounding a little out of breath. Of course, she and Thor were fighting too. “Kinda busy!”

“You found Cap?”

“No. They had a decoy.”

Which meant the peons didn’t know where the real Cap was, and he might be anywhere. Maybe even out of the compound. “We’ll try to join you. If you find any big cheeses, try to take them prisoner.” Tony could put aside his issues with the Glowstick of Destiny for that. For a while.

“I copy.”

“C’mon,” Tony said to the others. “Let’s see if we can find Cap. Or someone from a higher pay grade.”

They started down the corridor, Loki’s newest lapdog leading the way. Tony was just starting to wonder why nothing was happening when the trap was sprung. More huge steel doors, clanging down in the corridors, trapping them in a short segment.

Before Tony could say anything Loki had a force field over them, and they watched the bomb explode above their heads.

Tony knew Loki wasn’t really a god, but he prayed for him to keep his force field steady anyway.

When the explosion was done, Loki grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him around. “Hey! What are you-“

“I have to heal this, _now._ We can’t risk my magic faltering again. Your lives depend upon it.” Then Loki was opening the cube’s case, and Tony felt that static-electricity sensation again, and he could see the reflection of the cube’s blue glow. Fury stepped forward to interfere, but the brainwashed guard stood in his way. By the time Fury had shoved him aside, Loki was ready to stop him with another force field.

A couple of minutes later, the glow disappeared and the force field blocking Fury dissolved. Tony turned around. Loki’s eye was healed, looked as good as new. _He_ looked good as new, no longer tired and stressed but ready to take on the world.

Or at least a compound of leftover Nazis.

Loki was actually _smiling,_ confident and at ease. “Stand back,” he ordered lightly, before raising his sceptre and blowing one of the doors away. Then he turned to his lapdog. “Lead us to where you believed Captain America to be held. That is where our comrades are.”

There were a couple more booby traps along the way, of course there were. Once the floor fell out from under them. The suit’s thrusters activated automatically and Tony grabbed Hill because she was closest; Loki kept the rest of them from falling into a ball pit (ludicrous, but actually quite effective) with a force field while Tony lifted them each back up to the walkway, lapdog last. “My force fields aren’t really intended for this sort of thing,” Loki complained as Tony set him down. 

“You are really heavy.”

“Be glad you didn’t have to lift Thor.”

The next attack was tear gas, but Tony had an app for that. He blew the gas down the corridor and they continued on their way.

They didn’t send more henchmen. Apparently they had figured out _that_ wasn’t going to help. Not until they were in a big enough space that they could be overwhelmed by numbers.

“We were told Captain America was through here, sir,” the lapdog told Loki. Weapons ready, they approached the doorway.

“Stop,” Fury said before they reached it. “It’s a trap.”

“This whole place is a trap, sir.”

“Yeah, but there’s nobody waiting for us,” Tony agreed. “It’s extra trappy.”

“Allow me.” Loki stepped towards the door. They had talked about this tactic; to test a likely trap, Loki would send one of his doppelgangers in. Even though he knew it wasn’t the real Loki, Tony had to grit his teeth, watching his lover just walk into that room, waiting to be jumped.

When the attack came, it wasn’t what they had expected.

There was a scream right behind Tony, a scream that called up too many things he had tried to forget. Full of agony and fear.

Loki’s doppelganger flickered out of existence, and the real Loki reappeared behind Tony, on his knees, hands fisted on the floor. A robed figure stood over him, a hand extended towards him. 

A hand with pale green skin. And two thumbs.

When Loki raised his head, he looked far more terrified than he had when he had crawled out of the Hulk crater to find the Avengers looming over him.

Tony’s gut twisted. He never wanted to see anyone that afraid again.

“We told you, Asgardian,” the robed figure said. “There will be no realm, no barren moon, no crevice where we can’t find you.”

Loki met Tony’s eyes, and what Tony saw there just made it worse. Loki was perfectly still, except for his lips. Which formed two words in a low steady voice.

“Tony. _Run.”_


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle in Hydra's compound continues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Grey Bard for betaing.

“ _Run!”_ Loki repeated, and Fury and Hill, at least, did the sensible thing and took off, Loki's newest thrall following them.

Tony, the idiot, stayed to let The Other have it with his blasters. Loki gritted his teeth, not moving. He should have told them more details about his captors, then Tony would know his weapons were no use against this foe. Did Tony believe he hadn’t tried to fight, at first? Before he had found how useless it was?

Loki could hear The Other’s feet shuffle as he faltered back a step - from the impact of the blast, nothing more. Inflicting pain on The Other was extremely difficult. Loki only knew of one being who could do it to any great effect.

“Tony-" And the world went white again with another flash of that _pain._ One touch. That was all it had taken for the Other to re-establish his telepathic hold on him. He had almost forgotten just how horrific it was. 

Almost. 

At least this time Loki was able to refrain from screaming. 

When the pain was over, he opened his eyes to the orange glow of explosions. Tony was firing his missiles into The Other. Of course, even when Loki went to a foreign realm and chose a member of an alien species as a lover, _of course_ he found one who didn’t know when to give up. Fathers, brothers, lovers - such men were his fate.

The Other was cursing, low and gravelly. Loki dared to glance up. The missiles _had_ hurt him - a little. Just enough to make him angry. And then he was advancing on Tony, whose suit levitated him just out of reach but the damned fool still lingered.

Loki seized the instant to speak again. “Tony, you _must go._ Thor will need you to help him with the plan. You two can come for me - after.” Surely they could do it without him. Tony had the Tesseract, Thor could find another sorcerer - they would manage.

“Don’t try to be noble, babe, it doesn’t suit you.”

“Not noble. Realistic. You cannot hurt him.”

“He is right, human.” A familiar unpleasant grin was spreading over The Other’s reptilian face. “All of Earth’s meager might cannot defeat me.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s what you guys thought three years ago.” And then Tony darted out of the way of a blast from The Other. 

Loki reached for his sceptre. Why couldn’t he, for once, care for someone practical and self-serving? It would spare him so much worry.

Loki gritted his teeth. He was going to regret doing this.

He lifted the sceptre and blasted The Other with it.

It knocked The Other back several feet and prompted a howl of rage. Loki was about to blast him again but The Other lifted his hand and the _pain_ started again. Pain generated right in the brain, nonlocalized in the body. Like pure pain injected directly into him.

And this time The Other did not grant him a reprieve after the first flash, but gave him another, and another. He was on the ground again, he had dropped the sceptre, he hoped he wasn’t screaming but he couldn’t be sure.

It stopped with such abruptness that it disoriented him even further. Tony, the idiot, had launched _himself_ at The Other, slammed him into the wall.

The Other was clawing at Tony’s armor, denting it. _Damn._ If he touched Tony’s body, he could link with him and - a human could not survive the telepathic torture. Reluctantly Loki seized the sceptre and leapt toward them.

Loki blasted Tony to the far wall with the sceptre, putting him out of reach. He could hear Tony yelling, more angry than hurt. The Other was turning his attention to Loki again.

Loki’s mind raced. He could pretend to be on their side again, claim this was all an elaborate gambit to get the Tesseract to them. But no. He could weave a convincing enough lie, but the danger that they might actually get it was too great. 

The Other’s clammy hand was curling around the side of Loki’s head. Loki had a sudden desperate inspiration. Again he pushed back the enchantment Odin had placed upon him, felt his body turn cold and alien, and gripped The Other’s hand in both of his. And hoped that the freezing touch was an instinctive defense.

It was.

The Other screamed, more out of rage than pain, and threw Loki to the ground.

The Other was looming over him almost immediately. Again Loki reached for abilities he had never used, summoned spikes of ice out of the air and tried to pierce The Other with them.

The ice was no match for the armor The Other wore beneath his robe, but it bought Loki a few seconds. He spoke swiftly, while he could.

“Tony, the _cube,”_ he insisted. “You must keep it away from him! Or Midgard is doomed.” The Other raised his hand. Loki closed his eyes.

This time when Loki’s vision cleared after the pain, he could see that Tony was actually, finally, backing away. Reluctantly, Tony was too sentimental to want to leave his lover even with such an unthinkable alternative, but he was doing it. Loki caught his breath, wrapped Odin’s enchantment around himself again, felt the warmth steal over him.

“Your efforts will be useless, human,” The Other rumbled at Tony. Just the sound of that voice made Loki shudder. “We will have the Tesseract. And the universe will be _his.”_

“Yeah, no.” Tony was still dawdling, but at least he was moving away. If slowly. “Ain’t gonna happen. And I suggest you make sure my boyfriend’s still in one piece when his brother by another mother and I come to pick him up.”

“Even if you got the Tesseract,” Loki said, unable to keep his voice steady but speaking anyway, “you will not be able to stand against Asgard.” Thor would find a way. Loki didn’t doubt it.

“ _His_ beloved will relish the harvest of Asgardian souls _he_ will send to her. She savors the deaths of heroes more than any other.” 

“I’ve noticed. That is why I have striven to keep myself unpalatable. Your master’s mistress has spat me out more than once.”

The Other leered and lifted his hand again. Loki braced himself. The pain hit.

There was a rush of air and then The Other was flung into the room where Rogers had supposedly been held. Loki scarcely had time to gasp for breath before Mjölnir was flying back to Thor’s hand.

Tony, who hadn’t had time to retreat very far, moved to stand beside Thor. Thor was livid. Electricity crackled around him. And the look on his face….

“Thor! Don’t let him touch you,” Loki warned, then flinched, remembering another day when he had heard those words in battle.

With slow, deliberate steps, Thor advanced into the room, towards The Other. “You dare harm a prince of Asgard?” Another step. The Other was getting to his feet, fuming. “The brother of Thor?” The power crackled around Mjölnir. The Other snarled, falling into fighting stance. “ _My_ foster brother, _my_ shield-brother, _my_ dearest friend?” 

If the Norns had done Loki any kindness, it was in giving him Thor. Loki made himself grope for the sceptre and stand, unsteady as he was, ready to have Thor’s back. Tony was at the ready too, but staying out of the way, being sensible for a change of pace. They stood at the entrance, vigilant.

The Other unleashed a blast onto Thor. Thor felt it, he gritted his teeth against it and flung his hammer.

It made a rather satisfying crunch.

Then Thor was on him, and despite Loki’s warning was grappling with The Other hand to hand, their brute strength well matched, Thor’s superior skill met with The Other’s telepathic torture. Loki’s stomach turned when Thor screamed. He and Tony both stepped forward to help, but the pain had only fueled Thor’s berserker rage; he attacked his opponent with renewed fury. The Other was bleeding dark purple blood, was baring his teeth in pain.

The second time Thor screamed Loki felt he could endure no more. He moved to intervene, but a metal hand gripping his elbow halted him. “Let him,” Tony said. “Until he really needs our help.”

Loki glared at him. Tony flipped his faceplate back to look him in the eye.

“He didn’t rescue you from Skin Condition Dude because he thought you were dead. He blames himself. He needs to let off a little steam.”

Tony was right. They watched, vigilant, as Thor pounded three years of guilt and wrath into The Other.

At last Thor raised his hammer and brought it down.

Hearing The Other’s scream was pure pleasure.

Thor stood back, panting. The Other lay prone on the floor, still alive, still conscious, but too battered to fight further. Thor’s hammer pinned him in place.

“Loki.” Thor did not take his gaze off The Other. Loki understood what was being offered.

Thor was the best brother in the whole Nine Realms.

Loki stepped to Thor’s side. For a brief second, they locked eyes.

Loki looked down at The Other. 

“How your master will envy you. You are now to meet his sweetheart.”

He raised his sceptre, spearhead pointed at The Other’s throat.

And thrust it down.

And smiled.


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Beth still need to be found.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Grey Bard for betaing.

The three of them stood quiet for a moment, making certain The Other was really dead.

“Loki. You okay?” Tony sounded sincerely worried. That gratified Loki more than he cared to realize. After the last few years, to have allies again was… a relief.

“I endured a year of that. And then came to Midgard and single-handedly brought down a SHIELD installation.”

“I never thought that information would be comforting.”

“Tony, the next time I tell you to run, run. There are enough noble fools in my life already.” 

Thor smiled at the description, pleased. Tony retorted, “You should talk. Expecting me to run off and leave you. Talk about noble fools.”

“It wasn’t that noble. If a human could have survived the telepathic torture I would have let you take a bit of it for me,” Loki lied. 

“Yeah, right. That’s why I had to hold you back while Creepy Dude was zapping Thor.”

“Enough,” Thor said. “Do you have the Tesseract?” 

“Right here.” Tony indicated the bracket on his back.

“Good.” Without asking, Thor took it off and strapped it to his own back. Tony didn’t argue. He and Loki both followed as Thor hurried down the corridor. 

“Where are the others?” Tony asked.

“Fury and Maria Hill are fighting with Natasha. I came to your aid when they told me of Loki’s peril, but now we must return to them.”

“Any sign of Cap?” 

“No. We found a man in a hospital bed who appeared to be Steve, until we saw his face. He is the son of the leader of these scoundrels, and a formidable fighter.”

The fight was continuing in a large barren room, a hospital cot lying on its side in one corner. Tony activated his suit and flew into the melee. Loki and Thor shared a lightning-quick glance. 

They grinned fiercely at each other, and joined the battle.

The pair of them fell in together as they had countless times over the centuries, coordinating their movements without words. Loki would never admit it aloud, but fighting at Thor’s side again was good. He felt almost as if they were brothers again. 

The humans were well armed and armored. They were indeed prepared. Thor could have felled them all with a bolt from Mjölnir, but his shield-brothers would be harmed, so they defeated their foes a few at a time. Loki snatched glances at the others whenever possible, flung a dagger or a blast of magic when it was called for. Fury looked distinctly ungrateful when a man who was an inch from killing him fell over with Loki’s blade in his neck. Loki would have given Fury a pointedly sweet smile but he had a fight of his own to attend to.

Loki’s three thralls were fighting on his side. Romanoff was laying waste to half a dozen men with a dazzling acrobatic display. Loki hadn’t actually had a chance to see her in battle before; the fleeting glimpses he caught now were stunning to behold. Hill had lost one of her whips but was snapping the remaining one with frightening ease. Despite his greater age, Fury was formidable - small wonder Barton admired him so.

Once Loki, Thor and Tony joined the battle it was over swiftly. The few Hydra guards still standing grudgingly dropped their weapons. Only two refused to give up despite the hopelessness of their situation. Both of them were tall and golden-haired, a young man and a young woman. Romanoff had to hold the woman; even disarmed, injured and outnumbered, she continued to fight uselessly, pouring furious words at them. When she made some unflattering statements about Fury’s pigmentation, Romanoff’s lip curled and she pressed a point on the woman’s neck. The woman was unconscious in a couple of seconds.

“Andrea!” The other holdout, the young man, called out. Thor was holding him, but he continued to struggle, though he might as well have struggled against iron bars. The lad had a haircut similar to Rogers’s and was wearing clothes like those the captain had been wearing when he had left for his ill-fated date. He had been the bait in a trap. 

They all paused for breath. Tony had flipped back his faceplate again and was smirking at Thor. “I’m just going to savor the irony of a blond blue-eyed Norse god beating the crap out of a bunch of Nazis.”

“Anyone hurt?” Fury asked. No one was - not seriously.

Loki stepped to Thor’s side. “Is this the one you spoke of? The son of their leader?” When Thor nodded, Loki lifted his sceptre. Thor looked as if he wanted to object to this dishonorable tactic, but he did not.

“Tell us about your leader,” Loki ordered.

“My father, Baron von Strucker-“

“Von Strucker has to be a hundred years old now,” Fury cut in.

“He is. He spent decades in suspended animation. He is still strong enough to lead Hydra. You will not be able to defeat him,” he told Loki, quite serious. “We should make our escape now while we have a chance.”

“Why won’t I?”

“Even though you have defeated his personal army, there is still his ally.”

“The alien?”

“Yes. The Other is incredibly powerful. The only way Father will be able to kill him when he is no longer useful is by using the Tesseract on him.”

Loki smiled. “I killed The Other.”

The lad’s eyes widened in awe. “You did?” 

“With Thor’s help, yes. Where are Captain America and Beth McGavran?” Loki felt badly over the girl. He had tried to do her a favor and instead put her in peril. So much for benign intentions.

“In a cell behind my father’s office.”

“I’m checking the map of this place,” Tony said. “The cell’s not on it.”

“No, its existence is a closely guarded secret.”

“Tell us what safeguards are on it.”

He did, and they all set out for it.

The office was furnished to impress, antique furniture and a collection of swords on the wall. Von Strucker was waiting for them. He held Beth in front of him, a gleaming blade at the girl’s throat. Her hands were bound behind her, her knees tied together to prevent her from effectively fleeing without making it impossible for her to stand.

She was quite brave for a civilian. The tracks of tears were visible on her face, and there was fear in her eyes, but she was trying to stay calm, keeping silent instead of screaming uselessly.

Thor was the first to enter the office. “Come closer and I will slit her throat,” von Strucker warned. Thor stopped, the others behind him in the corridor.

“And then what?” Fury demanded. “You kill your hostage, you’ve used your trump card.”

“I’m certain that will be a comfort to her parents.”

“Stop him,” Beth urged, voice shaky but determined. “Never mind me, you can’t let him do this.” Her eyes were tearful, she was not making this offer as serenely as a warrior might, but she had accepted the call even so. Rogers had chosen well. She would bear him brave sons.

“We aren’t going to sacrifice you, Ms. McGavran,” Fury assured her.

That was when Loki thrust his spear into von Strucker’s heart, snatching the knife from his suddenly limp hand before it could cut the girl’s skin.

Loki’s doppelganger dissolved from Thor’s side and Loki became visible behind von Strucker. Beth cried out in surprise, jerking away from him and from von Strucker’s falling body. Thor moved to her swiftly, putting a steadying hand on her shoulder. “You are safe now, Beth McGavran. Are you hurt?”

“No, but they’ve got Steve in there, they drugged him-“

“We will care for him,” Thor assured her. “That was very brave of you.” She managed a small smile.

The humans were securing the cell. Some sort of Midgardian apparatus was feeding a drug into Rogers’s vein; Fury scrutinized it for a moment before yanking it out with a muttered curse.

“Is he all right?” Beth asked, anxious. Loki drew one of his knives and cut the heavy tape that bound her. She didn’t seem to recognize him, either as the invader who had led the Chitauri or as Rogers’s mischievous dinner companion, which was likely for the best.

The humans were all crowded around Steve’s bed. Already he was opening his bleary eyes. “I’m not finding any injuries,” Fury said, still prodding the lad.

“Everyone, quick, hide!” Tony urged. “I’ll tell him I’m Tony Stark Junior and that he’s been asleep for another seventy years.”

“You say that every time you catch me taking a nap, Tony,” Steve grumbled, voice slurred. Then his eyes widened and he tried to sit up. “Where’s Beth? Is she all right?”

Thor smiled at the girl and gestured her to go to Rogers, but already she was flying to his side.

The others filed out to give the pair a minute or two. Loki stole one last glance at them. Rogers’s chances with the young lady seemed favorable yet.

 

By the time they met Barton at the jet, Banner was himself again (though wearing only a tattered pair of trousers) and was ready to care for Rogers. If indeed Rogers needed it; once the drug was no longer being fed into him his body threw off its effects quickly. Already he was walking, Thor’s arm around him mainly to steady rather than support him. Fury and Hill were on their phones, making arrangements with whatever Midgardian authorities were called for. 

Barton disembarked with a couple of bags and at Banner’s direction set them down in the shade of a clump of three trees. Banner pulled on a shirt from one of the bags, then the pair of them began tending to their comrades’ minor wounds. From the way they went about it, without questions or instructions, this was a well-established habit. It was much like what Thor’s warrior band had always done, summoning up bittersweet memories for Loki. Memories of a time when he had known his place in the universe. When he _had_ a place.

After turning Rogers over to Banner, Thor went to Loki. He stood a little apart from the others, watching the humans tend to each other. Loki swallowed at the look on his not-brother’s face. Of course a good fight would make Thor feel emotional.

Sure enough, Thor pulled him into an embrace. Then released him just enough to put his hand on the side of Loki’s neck and look at him with warmth and affection that made Loki want to weep with gratitude like a sentimental idiot. “It was good to have you fighting at my side again, brother.” The last word was spoken out of habit, but at the hitch in Loki’s breath, Thor’s face grew serious. “Will you not call me brother again, Loki?”

Loki met that earnest, pleading blue gaze and his throat tightened. He loved the damned fool every bit as much as he had before he had learned of his true parentage. There was no more stalling, he did not have the heart to wound Thor again by simply demurring, he would have to tell him why straight out. He licked his lips. “Thor, I love you,” he began. “But we-“

But at this moment there was only one word Thor was willing to hear from him. Before Loki could say more Thor jerked away from him, flinging Mjölnir to the ground so that it skidded several feet, tearing up the sparse grass to expose the sandy soil beneath.

Damn. Damn. Damn. Loki had made just one push too far and ruined everything. Thor would never forgive him now, would never love him again, would never trust him enough for their plan, Loki’s heart would break again and there would be no mending it, all was-

Thor’s voice was deathly quiet. “Loki.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm pretty sure there will be a total of 35 chapters to this. I am hard at work and this will be finished up soon!


	30. Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor and Loki finally settle the question of whether or not they are brothers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Grey Bard for betaing.

_Just agree, you fucking idiot._ Tony thought that hard at Loki on the off chance that he had developed telepathic powers in the last five minutes.

They all watched the brothers tensely. If those two didn’t figure it out right now Tony was going to go over and handcuff them together until they worked it out.

“Loki. Give me a knife.” 

Oh hell, why did Norse gods have to be such drama queens? Now Thor was going to threaten to stab himself or something if Loki didn’t put aside that whole adoption thing.

Loki handed one over without hesitation, obviously as confused as the rest of them. He looked crestfallen, and Tony had to admit, Loki’s puppy eyes were even better than Thor’s.

Thor took the knife, his jaw set grimly, and then dropped to one knee like he was about to propose. Loki looked down at him, startled. And then Loki’s eyes widened. Thor was cutting a line across his left palm.

None of the humans got it, but Loki obviously did. The two gods held each other’s gaze and Thor offered Loki the knife, hilt first.

Loki swallowed, and this obviously was something big, but he didn’t hesitate. He took the knife right away, knelt across from Thor without breaking that held gaze, and made a cut in his own palm.

That was when Tony caught on. This was a blood-brother ritual. They were formally _choosing_ to be brothers.

And Tony was pretty sure that blood-brother oaths didn’t put anyone in the succession to a throne.

Maybe the big guy was smarter than they’d given him credit for.

They clasped their hands, holding their slashed palms together, and let their blood mingle. After a minute they moved their palms apart, fingers still laced, and allowed drops of their blood to fall onto the soil. Both of them were weeping freely, no one had ever told Asgardians that crying was unmanly, and God, there was a hell of a lot of love in their faces.

Apparently that was the conclusion of the ritual, because they let go of each other’s hands in favor of trying to hug each other to death.

Tony let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding.

All the humans had been watching silently, all feeling that this was something they shouldn’t intrude on. Finally the new blood-brothers decided they had cracked enough of each other’s ribs for now and let go.

“We have much to discuss,” Thor said.

“We do,” Loki agreed. Then glanced at the others. “After pizza, perhaps?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I say 35? I meant 36. I totally meant 36.
> 
> This [blood brother ceremony](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_brother) is derived from [Örvar-Oddr's saga](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%96rvar-Oddr%27s_saga). In Norse culture such an oath was very serious. It was easier to get divorced than to escape from the obligations of an oath of blood-brotherhood.


	31. Chapter 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor and Loki embark on their plan to save Midgard, with help from Tony.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Grey Bard for betaing.

Clint and Tasha elected to stay in Chile with Fury and Hill to get Hydra squared away. Now that they had the cube back, Loki didn’t have to do much more than click his heels three times and say “There’s no place like home” to transport the rest of them back to Stark Tower. Bruce took Steve and Beth to the hospital, even though they both insisted they felt fine.

Tony really should’ve gone with them, but he wasn’t leaving his two favorite Norse gods unsupervised just now.

Pizza arrived and the three of them sat around the table and ate the first couple of slices in comfortable silence. Seeing the new blood-brothers looking at each other like that did Tony’s heart good.

Tony spoke first.

“I’m going with you.”

The blood-brothers looked at him, then each other.

“You told him?” Thor asked.

“He figured it out.” Loki looked back to him. “Tony, this will be very dangerous.”

“I’m coming.”

“My friend, I have never doubted your courage, but this is not your task. Why must you-“

“Because I’m in love with your brother and I’m trying to impress him.”

Both gods stared at him. Tony would have been staring at himself too, if he hadn’t been himself. He hadn’t planned to say it, hadn’t even known it, but it was true.

Loki spoke at last, halting. “You must know you have nothing to prove to me, Tony.”

“I was kidding. Not about being in love with you, that part was true. About doing this just to impress you. Actually I’m going because my boyfriend and my shield-brother might need me.”

Loki drew a breath. “Tony, if the plan fails, the consequences to you will be-“

“Is it going to fail?”

“There is always a chance. I would rather you were safe on Midgard.”

“Yeah, because Midgard is going to be so safe if this doesn’t work. I’m going with you.”

The gods looked at each other, then nodded. “It was our duty to dissuade you, but it is your right to fight at our side,” Thor told him.

“You won’t try to sneak off without me?” 

Thor smiled and shook his head.

“Not good enough, big guy.”

Thor’s smile widened into a grin. “You have my word, Tony,” he said, and took another slice of pizza.

“When?” Tony asked.

“In the morning. I would say now, but after today’s battle we need rest.”

Then they started to plan. That didn’t take long, there were only a few details that needed to be hammered (har, har) out. They were finished long before Bruce and Steve came home with the information that they had left Beth at her mother’s. Tony told them there was pizza. Thor and Loki shared a manly bro-hug in which they hardly broke any of each other’s ribs before Thor retired to his own room and Loki obligingly went to Tony’s.

Tony poured them both martinis. Loki was uncharacteristically quiet now. “Is it okay?” Tony asked, knowing Loki would understand that he meant the sudden introduction of the L-word. 

It was a moment before Loki replied. “I did not expect that.”

“Well. I understand, I’m a mere mortal and all that, you don’t have to - you know.” Tony took a swallow. “It’s okay if you want to call it off now, I’ll still go with you two, I still have plenty of motivation.”

Loki glanced around the room as if for an escape. His hands fidgeted with each other. “No, I did not mean… that is, after everything I thought I should not? I am in love with you too.”

The last sentence tumbled out in a rush. Loki looked embarrassed once the words were said and there was nothing Tony would rather have seen. Had Loki said anything smooth and poetic, had he even replied with those three simple words, doubts would have lingered in Tony’s mind. This adolescent stammering from Loki Silvertongue was the best guarantee Tony could have had.

“All right, mad, bad, and dangerous to know. Get down here so I can kiss you.”

Looking relieved at having something to do other than speak and invite further embarrassment, Loki complied. After the first kiss they quickly knocked back the rest of their martinis so they could get to tearing each other’s clothes off. It was easier, saying it with their touches instead of their words. As soon as they were naked, Loki pushed him down onto the bed and licked a slow, deliberate stripe up Tony’s neck. The effect was… pretty amazing. After that, all Tony could do for a while was lie still and let Loki drown him in pleasure. Maybe it was just because of what they had said, but Tony thought there was something more possessive in Loki’s touch now. Which was fine with him. He was feeling more possessive now himself, and Loki was going to find that out.

Just, not right now, not when he could just lie back and have Loki service him.

There was no going back for seconds, not tonight. They were both too pleasantly tired, too satiated. All kinds of things they really should talk about flowed through Tony’s mind, but all of them could wait. Right now he was going to fall into the Tonysleep.

 

Thor’s friends did not look happy to see Loki when the three of them stepped through Loki’s portal into what appeared to be Asgard’s idea of a sitting room (everything made out of gold and no comfortable chairs). As Tony understood it, they knew they needed Loki for this, but they weren’t pleased about it. Which seemed to be pretty much the story of Loki’s life in one sentence. 

Loki gave them all a charming smile, more poisonous than any glare could have been. “Hogun,” he said to the dour Asian guy. “You look overjoyed to see me.” He turned to the fat one. “I see that you have missed me, former shield-brother. You have lost nearly an ounce in your pining." The fat man actually chuckled at this, so maybe he was jolly like fat people were supposed to be.

Thor was cheerfully shoulder-clapping and hand-clasping them all. “My friends, this is my Midgardian shield-brother Tony Stark, son of Howard, known to Midgard as Iron Man. Tony, meet Fandral the dashing, Hogun the grim-“

“Volstagg the voluminous,” Loki supplied.

“And my betrothed, the Lady Sif.” The tall brunette took half an instant off from looking at Loki suspiciously to glance at Tony.

Tony gave them a charming smile of his own. “So, if I’m his Midgardian shield-brother and you’re his Asgardian shield-brothers, does that make us shield-in-laws?”

They sort of blinked at him. Tough room. 

He had attracted Sif’s attention, though. He was wearing the suit, holding the helmet under his arm. She studied it curiously. “Is that the armor warriors of Midgard wear these days?”

“Only if they’re me.”

“Who enchanted it for you?”

Tony was still trying to figure out if he should say he had done it himself and risk having them assume he was their idea of a sorcerer or try to sum up the difference between sorcerers and engineers in twenty-five words or less when Thor answered for him. “Tony makes his suits of armor with his own hands.” He sounded proud of Tony, which was kind of sweet. 

But all the information seemed to do was puzzle his friends more. “Is it the custom now for Midgardian warriors to make their own armor?” Sif asked.

“Again, only if they’re me.”

“Sif, where is your brother?” Thor asked.

“I am here.”

They all turned to see Heimdall in the doorway. Tony had seen Heimdall before, when he and Thor had come here to spring Loki. The guy was huge. And serene in a scary leashed-danger kind of way.

 

“ _Wait, Heimdall’s on your side?” Tony had asked the night before, while they worked out the plan over pizza._

“ _Yes. His sister is my betrothed.”_

“ _I thought the reason we couldn’t talk about it was that he sees everything - everything Loki doesn’t shield, that is.”_

“ _Heimdall is not the only one with that power,” Loki explained. “From Hlidskjalf-“_

“ _Gesundheit.” The blood-brothers glared at him. “Sorry, sorry. Please, go on.”_

“ _From Hlidskjalf, the throne of Asgard, the king can see everything in the Nine Realms. Everything not shielded by a powerful sorcerer, of course.”_

“ _Ah, Asgard, where even the chairs have names.”_

 

“You look well, Loki,” Heimdall rumbled. “Midgard suits you.”

Loki gave the man a level look. “Tell me, Heimdall. Why did you never tell anyone that I was not a true prince of Asgard?”

Thor’s friends all looked startled at that. 

“Because my king commanded me to keep silence.”

“You knew, though, did you not. You probably saw the moment Odin found me.”

“Yes.”

Tony and Thor watched the discussion tensely. Loki’s calm facade was gone, anger bleeding through. “Did you see the moment I was left?”

“Yes.”

“Did they mean to come back for me?”

Oh, God. Tony hoped Loki wasn’t clinging to that idea too hard.

“No. They thought you too weak to survive.” Heimdall paused. “Without Odin’s magic, you might have been.”

Sif stepped forward. “What are you talking about?”

“Loki’s true parents abandoned him as an infant,” her brother said, slow and sonorous. “Odin found him and raised him as his own son.”

“In a manner of speaking,” Loki said, bitter.

“Only the king, the queen and I knew this secret. I was sworn to keep it.”

“I learned the truth the day of Thor’s banishment.”

“Oh! …That’s why-“ Sif stopped.

“Yes. That is _why.”_

Yeah. That was why a lot of things.

“Then who are Loki’s true parents?” Sif demanded of her brother. 

The room didn’t actually go silent as a tomb. Heimdall didn’t actually make them wait hours for his reply. It just felt that way to Tony. And to Thor and Loki, he assumed. Loki was just waiting, smiling faintly, not giving Heimdall any look of warning or pleading, not even tense with hoping Heimdall didn’t out him as a frost giant. Just waiting.

“It matters not. They are both dead.”

Loki didn’t look relieved, only bitterly amused.

 

“ _Heimdall likes to keep his secrets to himself,” Loki had told them the night before. “He must have known what I was, for all these years, and he said nothing. When I was king, I found he had learned that I can hide from him and travel through realms without the Bifrost or the Tesseract. Did he tell any of you that?” he asked Thor._

“ _No.”_

 

“It makes no difference. Loki and I are still brothers.”

“Blood-brothers,” Loki corrected. He looked at Thor. “I had rather you call me that. We believed we were brothers because of the lies of a man intent on using us for his own schemes. You _chose_ me as your blood-brother.”

In response to the questioning looks from the others, Thor raised his slashed left palm, and Loki raised his.

Tony couldn’t help but be amused at the resignation on the others’ faces. For about thirty seconds there they must have thought they might finally be rid of their friend’s bratty kid brother.

Ineligibility for the big seat established (and Tony, at least, knew that was why Loki had brought up the blood-brother thing in front of everyone), Loki asked, “Are your forces ready?”

“The regiment we have organized is drilling now.” Fandral looked at Thor. “Come and speak to them, Thor, and they will rally to your side.”

 

“ _Shouldn’t you have gotten everyone to agree in advance?” Tony had asked. “Seems kinda risky, hoping they’ll get so excited by your speech that they’ll just-“_

“ _The further in advance, the more time for them to have second thoughts,” Loki had replied, and Thor had nodded. They were warrior princes. They had probably learned this stuff at the age when Tony had been finding out who George Washington was. “Or for someone to discover our plans.”_

“ _So what makes you so sure they’ll all listen to you? I know Asgard digs Thor, but still.”_

“ _My friends have been slowly reorganizing the army. They have formed a regiment of men we think will be ready to cast their lot with me.”_

“ _How can you be sure?” Loki had asked._

_Thor had paused, and when he answered, his voice was sheepish. “They are all younger sons.”_

_Loki had grinned, wolfish. “Perfect. Who is hungrier for glory of their own?”_

 

They went to the training yard. The soldiers stopped practicing beating each other up to stand at attention. 

Tony found that he was falling into line with the others, fanning out behind Thor. None of them had discussed this, but Thor’s gang just queued up from the habit of centuries, with Loki on Thor’s left and Sif on his right. Heimdall and Tony found themselves on the outside, probably because that was all that was left with Thor’s gang in formation.

Thor started to speak.

Odin had grown too old and weak to continue to protect Asgard, Thor announced. His judgment and his magic were both faltering. Thanos, the “mad titan”, would destroy Midgard if he were not stopped and then would set his sights on Asgard and the other Nine Realms. 

 

“ _I thought you guys were immortal.”_

“ _No. Just very long-lived compared to humans. We do eventually grow old and die.”_

“ _Is Odin’s magic really weakening?”_

“ _Yes,” Thor had admitted. “Loki and I have been worried about it for some years. Midgard does not know of it, of course, but many in the other realms suspect.”_

_From the look the princes had exchanged, Tony got the feeling there was more to the story than that, but the blood-brothers didn’t seem like they were in a hurry to share. It made sense that royalty would get into the habit of assuming that nobody else needed to know certain things. Tony didn’t push it. He would piece it together over time._

“ _His judgment is declining, as well,” Loki said. “Thor was not ready to act as regent four years ago. I thought his father’s blindness to that was part of his decline. Forgive me for saying so, blood-brother.”_

_Thor only inclined his head. “You were right, blood-brother.” They both seemed to savor the chance to use their new title for each other. “I was not ready. But Father was not blind. He wished me to fail so that Asgard would eagerly greet his return to the throne with me, its only other likely occupant, discredited.”_

“ _Well, there was still Loki,” Tony pointed out. Both brothers shook their heads._

“ _Father banished me for bringing us to the brink of war with Jotunheim, but it was precisely what he hoped I would do. When he woke up to find Asgard at war, he would defeat Jotunheim again-“_

“ _And force it to accept me as its king,” Loki finished bitterly._

_Yeah. Tony could see where Loki had learned it from._

 

Thor summed up the “looming peril” part of his speech pretty quickly and then moved on to the good part, about the glory and status and oh yes, of course, _lands_ to be gained by those who followed Thor. Despite his own cynicism, Tony got the distinct impression that the glory was the most important incentive there. Asgardians were very into glory.

And then they were all marching, Thor in front, his assorted shield-brothers right behind him, and a regiment of lean and hungry second and third sons at their back. 

There were a lot of guards between the training fields and the throne room. Which only made sense. The regiment didn’t even have to do anything but stand there waiting; Thor’s dream team was quite capable of taking down a few dozen ordinary soldiers. (Well, ordinary by Asgardian standards.) 

Tony joined in, but kept his blasters on “stun”. The night before he had offered Thor some of the nonlethal weapons he still had secretly stockpiled from an earlier era of Stark Industries, and Thor had looked genuinely horrified. “And deny them their place in Valhalla?” he had said, which kind of explained a lot.

The commotion had to be alerting the rest of the palace to what was going on. Odin would know what was coming. Now he was going to get to enjoy the results of his parenting style.

The doors to the throne room were shut and blocked. Thor smashed them open with his hammer and strode in, six feet plus of perfectly confident ripped Norse god. They all followed.

The throne room was huge. And gold. And crowded, apparently it was the day people came to make petitions to the king and seek audiences for whatever people had audiences with kings for. Civilians were huddling along the walls, palace guards lining up around the throne for the brewing battle. They must already have a pretty good idea of what was coming. It wasn’t like their progress through the palace had been unobtrusive.

Thor came to the foot of the dais and stopped, looking up. Odin rose and waited. He looked resigned. Not alarmed. Tony didn’t get the impression the king thought this coup would be too difficult to put down. Maybe it was hard to feel seriously threatened by the people you once sent to bed without supper for sassing back.

 

“ _Look, how often does he do the Odinsleep thing? We could wait till he’s comatose and then-“_

_Thor shook his head once, decisively. “There is no honor in that. It is the sort of thing that-“ He stopped._

_Loki smiled. “That I would do?”_

“ _I am sorry, Loki. I know you would not stoop to such tactics.”_

“ _Of course I would - if they would be effective. But Tony, most of Asgard would react as Thor just did. Thor could never rest secure on his throne if he acquired it by stealth. He must challenge Odin directly.”_

 

“Odin Allfather,” Thor pronounced, his voice carrying clearly over the vast room. “You have failed to guard the Nine Realms. You have failed to protect the innocent. You have failed to cast aside all selfish ambition.”

No one in that huge room moved or spoke or even breathed.

Thor continued. “You are unworthy of this realm, unworthy of your title.” Tony could see the movement of Thor’s throat as he swallowed. His next words were spoken slowly, with sorrow. “Unworthy of the loved ones you have betrayed.”

Tony stole a peek at his lover. Loki’s face could have been carved from stone.

“For the sake of the realm, of all the Nine Realms, I challenge you for the throne of Asgard.”

 

“ _He was wise to force us into competition with each other,” Loki remarked to Thor as their plans were sealed. “Together, there is nothing we cannot do.”_


	32. Chapter 32

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle commences.

Odin responded to his son’s challenge with some speechifying of his own. Tony focused on watching the room and didn’t pay much attention to the words. He didn’t care what the old man said, he had seen the results of Odin’s rule. Thor dumped on Earth for the humans to babysit. Loki made the tool of a monster who loved death - and wanted to give it to humans. And then tortured by the man he had thought was his father.

Thor only let his father say a couple of sentences before cutting him off. “Enough. The time for words is done. You no longer serve Asgard, only your own vanity. If you are still fit for the throne, prevent me from taking it.”

And with that, he raised his hammer, summoned lightning, and blasted the guards between him and his father.

That set it off, of course. Guards against Thor’s regiment of younger sons and Thor’s gang. At first Tony thought the odds were too much in their favor, but in less than a minute more guards were streaming in. If anyone knew how many there were it had to be Thor and Loki, so Tony guessed they must know what they were up against.

He continued to try not to kill anybody. These guys might be eagerly looking forward to Valhalla, but he was too much a fan of this life to want to see anyone hurrying to the next.

Thor set off a second blast of lightning. He had to inflict as much damage as he could before-

“Thor Odinson.” It was Odin’s voice, echoing in the large room.

Oh, hell. Here it came. The brothers had known it would, and the gang had been warned. Tony flew back to Thor’s side and hovered, waiting.

“I, Odin Allfather, take from you your power.”

Mjölnir hit the floor. The deep thud caught everyone’s attention. Thor tried to lift it again even though he knew he couldn’t. Everyone, on both sides, stopped fighting to gawk at the sight of their prince unable to heft his famous weapon.

There were more fireworks after that, in which Thor’s armor just disappeared. A symbolic thing, Loki had explained. When the lightning and the booming stopped, Thor was standing there in the long johns Asgardians wore under their armor, unarmed, as mortal and weak as Tony without his suit.

Thor had expected this, but he still didn’t look happy.

Sif, Loki, Tony and the Three snapped into formation around Thor, ready to protect him from anyone who might take advantage of his weakened state. Sif thrust a sword into Thor’s hand. Tony saw a quick shimmer and knew Loki had erected a force field around Thor.

 

“ _Thor has one weapon Odin cannot take from him,” Loki had said the night before, and smiled at his blood-brother._ _ **“Loyalty.”**_

 

Odin had more in store for his son. But whatever the bolt of magic hurtling to Thor was intended to do, Loki raised his own hands and blocked it. It made kind of a bang in the air before dissipating. Tony felt that static-electricity sensation again.

“Is this how you repay my mercy, Loki?” Odin demanded.

Loki’s eyes widened, incredulous. “Your _mercy?_ In only torturing me for three years?”

“You would have died as a babe had I not found you.”

“You should have left me there.” 

Tony was _really_ not happy with how much Loki sounded like he meant that.

“I challenge you as well, Allfather.”

“You try to seize my throne again?”

“I _seized_ nothing. Everyone believed I was next in the line of succession, oddly enough. I can’t think where they got the idea that I was your son. It was your queen who chose to make me regent instead of taking up Gungnir herself as you slept.” Loki looked around the tense room, which bristled with poised weapons and held breath. He raised his voice so that it carried. “Let it be known to all Asgard that I am not a son of Odin. Only four years ago did I learn that he found me as an infant and claimed me for purposes of his own.” Loki paused to let his next words sink in. “I have no claim to the throne of Asgard.”

“Then for what do you challenge me?”

“For the magic of Asgard.”

There hadn’t been time to explain it to Tony in detail, but apparently magic was as much a part of Asgard as water was a part of Earth. And it mostly did its job on its own, but sometimes it needed channeling. Maintaining. As the most powerful sorcerer in Asgard, Odin was sort of plugged into its magic. It didn’t have to be the king who did that, Odin just happened to be a sorcerer and had taken on both jobs - and all the power.

Loki stepped out of the ring of people shielding his blood-brother and they swiftly closed the gap. No one moved as Loki walked to the foot of the dais. Odin scanned the room. There was no way out of this, he had been challenged in front of everyone and had to fight or be exposed as weak.

Before Loki reached the dais, he froze. He clenched his teeth for a moment, then shook off whatever invisible force had held him in place and kept walking.

So that was what a magical duel looked like.

It got flashier after that. Loki pulled power from the cube, which was in a receptacle fastened onto his breastplate, and zapped Odin with blue flame, which Odin stopped with a force field. The cube was the only way Loki had any chance against Odin while Odin had Asgard’s magic at his disposal.

 

“ _I cannot do this without Loki’s magic, which I used to scorn,” Thor had admitted. The smile Loki replied with had been affectionate with no lingering bitterness that Tony could see._

“ _No offense, but there are other sorcerers, right?”_

“ _Of course, and I would have sought one of them had I not been able to remove Loki from that dungeon by now. But he is the best choice to aid me in this.”_

“ _Why’s that? Because you’re brothers? Blood brothers?”_

“ _Yes, and because sorcerers as powerful as Loki are rare.”_

“ _Thor is flattering me. With accuracy, but what he is not saying is that Odin cannot rob me of my powers.”_

“ _Wait, what?”_

“ _You know he did that to Thor on two occasions. Turned him into a mortal, leaving him as vulnerable as you without your suit. He can do that to any Asgardian, because he is connected with Asgard’s magic. He cannot do it to me, because I am not Asgardian.”_

 

The flash of blue seemed to be a cue for the battle to start up again. Tony stole looks when he could at Loki’s magical duel with Odin. There weren’t always bolts of light or other visible manifestations of what they were doing to each other, but their expressions always showed intense effort and concentration and sometimes pain.

Tony’s blood boiled when he saw his boyfriend gritting his teeth in pain, but if Odin thought pain was the way to defeat Loki, he didn’t know his adopted son at all.

A renewed commotion around the throne took Tony’s attention away from his own fight, and the next moment everyone in the room had again stopped fighting to stare. 

Oh, shit.

Odin couldn’t take Loki’s magic away from him because Loki wasn’t an Asgardian. But there was something Odin _could_ take away from Loki.

The enchantment that made him look like one.

Loki was standing there, _blue_ , in front of all Asgard. The horror on his face was - Odin, the bastard, had known this would be one of the worst things that could happen to Loki, and he had _done_ it. 

Loki’s blue hands jerked as if to cover himself. Tony had a sudden moment of desperate inspiration. He fired the thrusters and flew to Loki’s side, seized one of his blue wrists, and held it up. _Trust me, babe,_ he thought, and then activated the suit’s loudspeaker to make sure everyone in the room would hear him. 

He didn’t have the blood-brothers’ knack for sounding like Shakespeare wrote their request for you to pass the salt, but sometimes content was good enough without a lot of form.

“Asgardians, look at what Odin will do to his own sons. He’s turned one into a mortal and the other into a frost giant. Think what he might do to you!” 

For a long agonizing moment, the balance teetered. And then the guards turned, every one of them almost in synch, and faced Thor - Thor in his pyjamas and his puny human frame. And struck their hearts with their fists in Asgard’s salute.

Thor’s face was very solemn. He looked at Loki, who was standing there sort of in shock, like he had just run a marathon. When he met Thor’s glance, he pulled himself together and gave him a nod.

Odin flung another blast of magic at Thor, and Loki blocked it. Odin glared at him and then summoned a glowing yellow sphere around himself, and slowly made his way down the steps from the throne. The guards and soldiers parted before him like the Red Sea. No one but Loki cared to challenge him.

Loki stood in Odin’s path, unleashed another bolt of blue Tesseract power at him. And then swore, because the Odin in the sphere of yellow proved to be an illusion. Loki had been taken in by his own favorite trick.

The real Odin flickered to visibility in the shattered doorway. Seeing his ruse exposed, the king ran. 

Loki took off after him.

Tony tried to go with him, but Loki snapped, “Stay here.”

And let him face a super-sorcerer alone? “Loki-“

“Tony. Do not put the gemstone back in the idol’s head.”

So Loki did pay attention to his jokes. “Okay,” Tony said reluctantly. 

Thor was speaking now, standing there in his underwear and looking no less kingly, which Tony had to admit was a pretty neat trick. He was already making decrees and proclamations, even though they all knew that he wouldn’t really be king so long as Odin was the one linked to Asgard’s magic. Which meant they were all waiting for Loki to win for them. Tony surveyed the room, saw the way they all looked at Thor. Loki had been right, loyalty was Thor’s one unstealable weapon. 

The only one that could possibly stop Loki from taking the throne himself, if he wanted it.

 

“ _Do you not fear that I shall betray you and try to seize it for myself?” Loki had asked, last night._

“ _No.” Thor’s voice held no doubt and no hesitation. “And if you did, you would be better for Asgard than Father.”_

_Loki had looked at his blood-brother for a long moment. “You_ _**are** _ _ready to be king.” And Thor looked like he had just been knighted._

 

“Sif, go to my mother and tell her what has occurred.” Thor added something else too quietly for anyone but Sif to hear; she nodded and departed, choosing two soldiers from the younger-sons regiment to accompany her. Thor raised his voice. “I hereby abolish the use of torture from the realm of Asgard. It does not befit warriors to behave like children pulling wings off flies.” He went on, declaring a general amnesty for most crimes and largesse to be distributed among the populace and other kingly things.

Tony watched Thor’s new subjects gathering around him and hoped that Loki really did have valid magical reasons for not wanting him along and wasn’t just doing the Freudian defeat-your-father thing.

 

 

Loki would have found Tony useful right now - Tony could have flown ahead and blocked the entrance to the weapons vault before Odin reached it - but he needed to defeat his false father alone.

He ran into the vault after the man he had thought was his father, to the room where his not-father had confessed to him. He had to stop Odin before he reached the Gauntlet. The other weapons Loki could combat, he believed. 

Unbidden, the words he and Thor had exchanged about this the previous night intruded on his thoughts.

 

“ _You know what we must do, Thor.”_

_Thor had bowed his head, had looked grieved._

“ _Loki, I love him still.”_

“ _Then be more merciful to him than he has been to you. Or to me.”_

“ _Can you be at peace with showing him mercy after he gave so little to you?”_

“ _I can.”_

 

It was the only lie he had told Thor last night.


	33. Chapter 33

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki and Odin duel.

Before Odin’s hand could close upon the Gauntlet, a blast from Loki’s sceptre threw him back. Loki found that he could conjure a thick wall of ice in front of the Gauntlet, blocking it off. Then he summoned a few ice blades and hurled them at Odin, who stopped them with a force field. For long minutes the two of them hurled bolts of power at each other, until the air crackled with magic and both of them were in pain and seething.

When they paused, exhausted, Loki caught his breath first. “Well, _Father?_ Have you no clever words to stay my hand? Are you not going to explain to me, now that you are out of your son’s hearing, that I was always secretly your favorite?”

“Have you no shame, Loki?”

Until four years ago, such words from Odin would have shattered Loki. Now he gave a short mirthless laugh. “Shame? The word has no meaning for me. Dangle a joint of meat before a starving dog. When that hound, after long hours of begging, finally savages you and takes the meat and your arm besides, must it feel shame? Or something closer to victory?”

There was something in his not-father’s face that was painfully sweet to Loki. Odin was beginning to realize that he had lost the power he once had over his adopted son. Still he tried again, trying to look sagely sad. “I have utterly failed in you.”

“No, _Father,_ I am not so easily fooled as that. I know, as you have always known, that you succeeded with me most admirably.”

“I do not take your meaning.”

“I was a means to an end to you, was I not?”

“Do not riddle me so. If your festering mind holds an accusation, have out with it.”

“Simply this, then: how best to make a hero? Give him a means by which he might define himself so, set up a field of black against which his white will be yet more blinding.”

“You speak of Thor.”

“Yes, I speak of Thor!” Loki’s voice overflowed with rage. “My supposed brother, filled with energy and ambition. How to mold him according to your will? Why, mold a villain alongside him. Take into your bosom a small and helpless babe, prod him with temptation, reward him with ridicule, expect the very worst from him, and refuse to see any good, lest it flourish thereby.”

Odin stared at him, shaking his head a little. “You are deranged.”

How dare he pretend even now, with the truth laid bare in the form of Loki’s blue skin and red eyes? “Am I? Then look at me, _Father,_ and tell me plain that I was not brought to your court for the purpose of galvanizing Thor's goodness.”

“I hoped to make peace between the kingdoms.”

“By crushing Jotunheim yet again, and forcing them to accept a king raised in Asgard, taught from infancy to hate his own race, desperate for the smallest sign of your regard. By ruling it through me. That was your idea of peace!”

“No-“ Odin began, but Loki would not be stopped now.

“But you did your work too well, did you not, _Father?_ You taught me so well to despise my own kind that when I learned what I was, I tried to destroy the entire race! How many of them did I kill, Father? Have I murdered more frost giants than you have? Did I at least beat my big brother for once?” Loki wondered why he was not weeping and then realized that frost giants had no tears.

“Loki-“

“Had your son not come back in time to stop me, had I killed them all, would you have pretended to love me for it?”

Odin unleashed another blast from Gungnir at Loki. Loki wasn’t quite fast enough to block it this time and it left him momentarily stunned. By the time he had regained his senses, Odin had taken the Casket from its pedestal and was turning to Loki with it. Loki braced himself, hoping his Jotun nature would protect him from the torrent of ice about to engulf him.

No torrent came. When Odin looked down at the Casket in alarm but not much surprise, Loki laughed breathlessly. “You cannot use it, can you, _Father?_ Only a _frost giant_ can wield the Casket.” He walked slowly toward the older man. “When were you going to tell me what I was?”

“I was awaiting the right time!” Odin thrust the Casket back to its pedestal and lifted Gungnir, but now Loki’s own spear was ready. The blast knocked Odin against the wall. Gungnir clattered to the ground.

“The right time? The day before you made me your puppet king, perhaps? Just how did you plan to reveal the truth to me? Did you think I would be so pleased at having a throne of my own that I would not mind that it was a throne of ice, that I was a monster?”

“Why must you twist my words?”

“Am I twisting them? Had you shown me the slightest mercy when Thor brought me back-“ Loki gnashed his teeth. “I loved you so much. You had to go to such lengths to make me stop.”

“Did you not love Asgard enough to bear the burden of the Jotun throne for it? To protect your realm? Your mother? Your brother?”

Loki smiled coldly. “And this was the way to achieve that. To lie to me and teach me to yearn for the love you could never give me.” His mouth twisted. “As it turns out, _Father,_ it is your son who found a use for this stolen relic.”

“You are determined to believe the worst.”

“Then tell me what the best is.” Loki raised his left hand, slammed magic into his false father. “You had two sons who worshiped the ground whereon you trod.” He could feel Odin’s power faltering, his grip on Asgard’s magic wavering. “Both would have done anything you asked of us.” Loki had a purchase on that power now, could feel Odin trying to cling to it. “I would have ruled Jotunheim for you. Thor would have ruled Asgard for you.” With each moment of the struggle, Loki felt himself becoming stronger. “Both of us would have done your bidding for the hint of a smile from you.” He felt Odin, the most powerful being in the Nine Realms, weakening. “Through us you could have ruled two realms.” Odin made one last desperate pull, and Loki gritted his teeth to resist it. _“Was that not enough for you?”_

The echoes of Loki’s last words faded into the vault’s silence. 

“You are mad,” Odin whispered as Asgard’s magic left him and flowed into Loki.

“No. I understand you now.” Loki had to close his eyes for a second, to feel the power that now soared through him in the quiet room. Then he opened them, and held Odin’s one-eyed gaze. “But you do not yet understand me. In demonizing me, you have outwitted yourself. I am Laufey's revenge.”

Odin tried to back away, but already he was against the wall. He could only stand and wait as Loki walked towards him, spear raised. Loki could feel the fierce grin spreading across his face.

“Know, Allfather, that your death came from the son of Laufey.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of the dialogue in this chapter is adapted from [Thor & Loki: Blood Brothers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor_%26_Loki:_Blood_Brothers), which Tom Hiddleston used as one source in creating the character.


	34. Chapter 34

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Long live the king.

“Loki! No!”

Loki froze, his spear poised at his false father’s throat.

It was Frigga’s voice.

“He’s your father!”

“He isn’t,” Loki whispered, but he did not put the blade through Odin’s throat. “I slew my father to win your husband’s favor.”

Frigga was standing in the doorway of the vault, clearly afraid to move.

“Loki, please.” She could find no other words.

“Please what? Please do not kill the man who has three times turned your son into a helpless mortal, twice stranded him in inhospitable realms? Please do not kill the man who tortured your adopted son for three years, deaf to your pleas?”

“He was wrong,” she said, and he could hear the tears in her voice. “But he is my husband. The father of my son - sons. Your father, your king.”

“No. Not my father and no longer my king.” Loki swallowed, not moving his gaze off his false father or his blade from the man’s neck. Odin did not move, was scarcely even breathing. “Do you not care enough for Asgard to want to see it rid of a king who is failing it?”

“Loki.” Her voice was soft, cautious. He could hear her soft footfalls descending the stone stairs where his heart had broken. 

When she reached the bottom, he said, “That is close enough, Mother. If I still may call you that.”

She did not reply. Which was all the answer Loki could have endured.

He heard a swiftly suppressed sob from her and abruptly, for the first time since the moment he had told Thor their father was dead and immediately forced the matter from his mind, Loki felt remorse. None of this had been her doing. She had been as much a mother to him as to Thor. And now the three men in her life had been at each other’s throats for four years.

Loki swallowed. He forced himself to speak, his eyes still on Odin.

“My queen. I do not have the gall to ask for your forgiveness. But I do offer my gratitude, for the love you so generously gave me even though I was not your true child. And for the chance you gave me, when you put Gungnir in my hand. And I most humbly apologize to you for what I did with that chance.”

Odin’s eye sparked with anger, but he knew better than to speak.

“Loki.” Her voice was very soft. “Look at me.”

Loki pressed the point of his spear to Odin’s throat, drew a single drop of blood. With the blade poised there, he slowly turned his head.

His mother’s eyes were full of grief, and pity, and fear.

She was kneeling.

No words or weapons could have struck him so hard.

Loki turned away. “Get up, Mother,” he ordered, voice harsh. 

There were no rustlings of her skirts, no sound of movement. He sighed, thwarted.

“You wish me to spare your husband’s miserable life?”

“Please, Loki.” 

“Then get up.” Loki leaned close to his false father. “Thank your queen, Allfather. There is no other in the Nine Realms for whom I would have forgone my vengeance.”

He sent a doppelganger to fetch Tony and whichever of Thor’s friends cared to accompany him. That turned out to be Sif, who shot Loki a worried look as she and Tony flanked Odin. Loki walked behind him, holding Gungnir as well as his own spear, ready to stop anything he might try. Frigga trailed after, holding her tears until she could shed them in privacy, as befitted a queen.

They locked Odin into one of the chambers they kept for visiting ambassadors - all of them could be swiftly converted into comfortable prisons if hostilities between the realms broke out. Loki and Thor had agreed on this as they planned; Odin doubtless had objects of power concealed in his own chambers, just as Loki did in his. Frigga chose to be shut up with him. Loki spent a few minutes casting enchantments upon the door lest someone’s loyalties waver.

When Loki was finished, he stepped back and drew a few breaths. He was weary, but the day’s work was not yet finished.

“Loki, are you okay?”

Loki managed a smile for his lover. “As well as can be expected.”

“Are you certain?” Sif asked. He looked at her and saw that she seemed truly horrified. Her eyes moved over him and she said, “I cannot believe he would do this to his own son!”

“I am not his own son,” Loki reminded her.

“Even so,” she said fiercely, “You have proven your worth with your loyalty to Thor, which in all your lives has wavered only once!”

Loki was glad Tony had his helmet on. He doubted Tony could school his expression enough for this moment.

“That is very kind of you, Sif,” Loki said, as sincerely as he could. “But do not trouble yourself. Now that I am the instrument of Asgard’s magic, I can reverse this spell.”

Odin’s enchantment which had made Loki seem Asgardian was gone forever. Having it torn from him had felt like a violation, worse than having his clothes ripped from his body. He could create a new enchantment, turn himself back into an Asgardian, but it would take time and energy. For now, he swiftly cast a glamour on himself, made himself look the way he always had.

“My magic has grown considerably in recent decades, Sif,” he said. “Even before today, I was capable of many things I could not have done before.”

“Oh?” 

“There is a spell I learned about twenty years ago. I was saving it for an appropriate occasion. I think your betrothal to my blood-brother qualifies.”

“What do you mean?”

Loki reached to take one lock of her long dark hair between his fingertips. From his touch, gold spread over the strands until she had a glowing stripe of blonde in her raven hair.

“Shall I reverse the spell I teased you with all those years ago, Sif? Or do you prefer your mane to remain as black as night?”

“Reverse it,” she said at once. 

Loki made himself smile. He remembered the cutting words that had prompted his prank even if she did not. Had she been a man he would have challenged her to holmgang for those insults, but a woman, even a shield-maiden, could not be challenged to a duel. His only recourse had been mischief. But now, for Thor, he would swallow his dislike.

“As my gift on your wedding day, then,” Loki told her. “My blood-brother will be so pleased.” He had not missed the flash of jealousy in her eyes, in the eyes of the Three, when they had seen the slashes on his palm and Thor’s, and he had relished it. “Now, let’s go make him a king.”

He pretended not to see the relief on her face. She had feared he would try to seize the throne himself. As if the treason would ever end, no matter how much of it he put down. No matter how much magic he had, he would never be secure on the throne of Asgard, had he wanted it. He lacked Thor’s gift for inspiring loyalty and affection. He was only fortunate that he had somehow managed to inspire those things _from_ Thor. 

Thor was in the throne room, standing at the foot of the dais, delivering a speech to his new subjects. He was standing there in his undergarments, weak and mortal, and still one and all loved and followed him.

Loki included.

Thor turned when he heard their approach, and his face lit up with relief and joy. Loki nodded slightly, letting Thor know all was secure. 

The sycophants surrounding Thor instinctively backed away. Loki stood a few feet away from his blood-brother, Sif and Tony just behind him, and lifted his hands.

Small wonder Odin had not wanted to relinquish this. The power that flowed through Loki was exhilarating. He did not have to draw it all from himself, or from a relic like the Tesseract. It was everywhere and he needed only to direct it. He could _feel_ Thor’s true nature returning to him, even as Thor’s armor reconstituted on his body. And at the same time Loki was able to weave another enchantment, a more challenging one but one which after a moment resumed its familiar shape.

Thor looked down at himself, flexed his hands, feeling the strength that had returned to him. He raised his head to look at Loki, and smiled at him, both triumphant and - grateful.

His brother _had_ learned.

Loki was sorely tempted to pick up the hammer and present it to Thor. It would be such a splendid moment after all those centuries when Odin had pretended that the weapon responded to worth instead of to magic made specifically for Thor, and Loki had tried so hard, _so damned hard,_ to be worthy, and always failed.

But Loki was repaying Thor for rescuing him from torture, for continuing to love him even when Loki no longer merited it. And both his aims and Thor’s required that Thor be secure on his throne.

And so all he did was allow his eyes to flicker to the hammer, and Thor understood. He stretched out his hand, and after a second Mjölnir flew to it.

Thor lifted it over his head and a great cheer rose up, almost shaking the enormous room. Thor moved to stand beside Loki, draping his free arm around Loki’s shoulders, shooting him a startled look at the cold of his skin beneath the illusion. Loki nodded at him, trying to convey reassurance, and Thor accepted it for the moment. Thor’s shield-brothers were gathering around them, all eager to bask in Thor’s reflected glory. 

Loki found that that reflected glory was no longer so bitter as it had often been before. Not when he knew that he had helped to bestow it. He curled his left hand around the slash in his palm. He would never let the scar fade, never.

Loki had taken away Thor’s previous chance at holding Gungnir. It seemed only fitting that now it was Loki who had the honor of dropping to one knee and offering Gungnir to him. Thor took it and Loki tried not to remember the moment when he had done the same, when that sudden boon in the ruin of his broken heart had caused his mind to break as well, and inaugurated four years of horror. 

And as Loki watched Thor climb the dais to Hlidskjalf, Tony’s presence solid and reassuring behind him, Loki tried not to remember his own few days upon that throne, how he had watched his true father brood and plot in his icy home, how he had watched Thor struggle on Midgard, how he had deceived himself with foolish dreams of soon having his not-father’s love at last.

Odin’s love had never been in his reach. Thor’s was given freely. Loki’s offerings to Thor would not be disdained. 

_Everything_ would be different from now on.


	35. Chapter 35

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asgard's weapons vault.

Thor wasted no time in exercising his new kingly perks. The contents of the weapons vault were now his - it was good to be the king. He brought the Avengers to Asgard, or rather Loki did at his request, and opened the toy chest for them.

Okay, he gave them two things out of it. Three if you counted that he was going to let Loki keep using the cube - not that Tony thought Thor could stop him.

“I cannot fight with you, my friends,” Thor told them with genuine regret. “I must remain in Asgard until I am certain my throne is secure. But I can provide you with an army, and with the weapon you need. It will have to be brought back to the vault afterwards, my friends, lest it fall into evil hands.”

He led them to stand in front of the Infinity Gauntlet. He had told them about the Gauntlet a couple of times over the last few years. This was a weapon which could defeat Thanos, but Odin had refused to allow it to be taken from the vault.

“If you’re not coming with us, who’s going to use it?” Tasha asked. “None of us knows how.” Tony could hear the suspicion in her voice. He didn’t honestly blame her.

“There is nothing to know,” Loki said. “One simply puts it on, and _wills.”_ At her narrow-eyed gaze, he smiled and added, “So I understand. I have never used it myself. It is the sort of artifact which should only be wielded by the pure of heart.”

Everyone looked at Steve.

 

The other present from the vault Thor had already turned over while the Avengers were still on Earth. This one was just for Tony, and it was Loki’s special request.

“It is called the Tablet of Life and Time,” Thor had told him. It was just the three of them in that creepy but seriously fascinating vault, standing in front of an ancient gold tablet.

“The Lifeline Formula spelled by these runes will heal its user,” Loki’s eyes had flickered to the arc reactor, “and allow him to reach the full evolutionary potential of his species. These powers are temporary if not used properly,” he warned.

“This does not only mean that you must use them virtuously,” Thor warned. “It means also that you must _use_ them. Not allow them to lie fallow.”

“But I have every confidence in you.”

“What powers, exactly?” Tony asked.

“We cannot be certain. But among them,” Loki paused, “is immortality.”

Tony met Loki’s gaze, incredulous.

“This is a gift, Tony,” Loki said at once. “There is no - no price attached.”

“That wasn’t what I was thinking.” He looked at the Tablet. “Do you know how to read these runes?”

“Of course. As soon as the battle with Thanos is done, I will translate them for you.”

Tony felt almost dizzy. “Full evolutionary potential, huh? Am I going to get a foot taller like Steve did?”

Loki smirked. “I hope not.”

More seriously, Tony asked, “Will I be able to do magic, after I use this?”

“Unlikely,” Loki said. “But you will live long enough to invent a machine that can channel it for you.”

Tony had turned to look at the pair of them again. There were no words for this, so he didn’t try to find any.

Thor started to lead them out of the vault, but Loki had stood still. “Thor, I have one more request.” When Thor looked back to him, Loki said, “The Casket of Ancient Winters.”

“You wish to use it against Thanos?”

“No. The Gauntlet and the cube will be enough.” Loki looked at the Casket on its pedestal. “I want you to restore it to Jotunheim.”

Thor gave him an assessing look. “Why?”

“With it they can repair the damage I did.” Loki said the words flatly. “We can no longer rely on the Jotnar’s fear of Odin to keep the peace. Jotunheim has a new king. Asgard has a new king. New kings can form a new peace.”

Thor considered. “If they agree to a treaty - and to amnesty for you - I will return it to them. After the Gauntlet and the Tesseract are back in the vault.” As one of his first proclamations, Thor had granted Loki a full pardon. And then saddled him with the task of rebuilding the Bifrost, which Loki explained afterwards would keep him busy and out of trouble for decades to come. 

Not that he had seemed to mind.

Now Loki bowed - easily and willingly, though Tony supposed that this must be normal to him, he’d probably learned to bow as soon as he’d learned to walk - and said, “Thank you, blood-brother.” Tony felt more sure than ever that Loki had fixated on his big brother as the one who could dispense the approval he’d been starved of all his life.

Thor did his hand-on-the-neck thing and smiled into Loki’s eyes. Maybe Thor understood it too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The idea that the Infinity Gauntlet should only be used by the pure of heart is kind of my invention, but it stands to reason. 
> 
> I learned about the Tablet of Life and Time from this article: [THOR Movie Concept Art Reveals Cosmic Weapons from Odin's Vault](http://www.dailyblam.com/news/2011/05/08/thor-movie-concept-art-reveals-cosmic-weapons-from-odins-vault). It says, "On the tablet was a biochemical formula for a serum, the so-called Lifeline Formula, which could rejuvinate, heal and grant its user the chance to reach the full evolutionary potential of its race turning the user into an immortal near omnipotent being." There is more [here](http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix5/tabletoflifeandtime.htm). I haven't seen the Tablet used in any fic yet and I thought it would be good to have a change of pace from golden apples.


	36. Chapter 36

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue.

After the defeat of Thanos, life in Asgard went on much as before. Loki served a different king now. His duties - and powers - were far more extensive. Thor chafed at being bound to the palace, went out riding or hunting whenever he could. For his own part, Loki was glad enough not to be dragged on more tiresome dangerous adventures with his foster brother’s irritating friends.

This had been their plan, always, not knowing that Odin intended another destiny for Loki: that one day Thor would reign and Loki’s magic and guile would be at his service. Their father should have been behind them, guiding and advising them. Through them Odin could have ruled for the rest of his life.

Loki was needed. He was useful. He had always known he could be.

He saw Tony often. The first moment they had alone after Thor ascended the throne, Tony had said, “So, rebuilding the Bifrost? I want in on that.”

“You just want to know how it works.”

“Well, _duh.”_

So Tony came to Asgard and watched Loki work magic, and they talked sorcery and science and then went to Loki’s chambers and pleasured each other to the point of exhaustion. Or Loki went to Midgard and watched Tony build things, and they talked sorcery and science and then went to Tony’s bedroom and pleasured each other to the point of exhaustion.

Today Loki had snatched some time to himself to spend in his true home: the palace library. Most of his life had been spent in this vast room. He belonged here, among all these shelves and shelves of books. The familiar atmosphere of the room soothed him. 

Thanos was with his sweetheart for eternity, though Loki had not been the one to wear the Gauntlet which sent him to her. Loki had been cheated of Odin’s death, but he was beginning to feel that allowing his not-father to live in defeat was actually a sweeter revenge than honoring him with a warrior’s death. Loki had triumphed over his enemies. Thor was his blood-brother, Tony Stark his lover. Had he believed in such things, Loki would have thought Tony Stark was his reward for all he had achieved, his compensation for all he had suffered.

He did not. The universe did not work that way. One did what one must. One strove to attain one’s ends. One accepted a code, because it was too right not to, and hoped that abiding by it did not get one killed. And now and then, without sense or reason, the universe gave one a gift. Like Thor’s loyal affection. Like Tony Stark.

Tony had thanked him, a few nights after the raid on Hydra’s compound, for “frosting out for the mission”. Then he had dropped the subject, proving that he could be tactful when he wanted to.

Others were not so considerate. Too many people now had seen him in his Jotun form. Asgard accepted Tony’s implication that Odin had transformed him as a battle tactic, but still there were whispers. Loki would have to do something about them. 

Perhaps he should reveal the truth himself. If it must come out, better that it came from him. Asgard would not be pleased to have a frost giant wielding its magic, but better that than one on its throne. No sorcerer in the realm could unseat him.

A more amusing possibility occurred to him as he moved to the shelf he sought. He would start _more_ rumors, plant more stories. Anyone who whispered around the fire or over their work that Loki Silvertongue was a frost giant would be told that no, the real secret was that he was a fire giant, an elf, a vampire. So many stories would circulate and grow that the truth would be no more credible than any of them. He would let the Nine Realms come to see him as a shapeshifter capable of assuming any form. Even if it did mean reviving that tiresome story about the horse.

He found the volume he had come for.

Loki had read every book in this library. Some of them more than once. The book whose spine he currently regarded was one he had read centuries ago, when he was not much more than Tony’s age in years.

_A History of Jotunheim and the Jotnar._

He remembered the book, of course. But perhaps reading it again, now that he knew so much more about the universe, would be worthwhile. Perhaps it held some scrap of knowledge which would be useful to him in harnessing the powers of his other form. Not that he had any interest in spending time in his Jotun form, but a sorcerer could not discount any skill, any advantage. Especially a sorcerer prone to finding himself in dangerous situations. And since his blood-brother was a warrior king and his lover (of the moment) was a superhero, dangerous situations seemed likely to continue arising.

“ _The beauty of your proud frosty heritage,”_ Tony had said. Loki snorted aloud. Humans had such absurd notions. This had nothing to do with that. He was in search of magic, nothing more.

He lifted his hand, and took down the book.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I cannot believe the response this fic has gotten and it is so damn flattering. You guys rock! Thank you so much for staying with it for so long. 
> 
> This would not have been written without darke-wulf. I thought I couldn't write Frostiron. (Thunderfrost is my OTP in this fandom.) But I put myself up for auction to raise money for Hurricane Sandy, she asked if I could write Frostiron, and I decided to try. I spent the next two months tearing my hair out trying to put together a workable plot and my computer has a folder full of failed attempts. When I finally wrote the opening scenes of _Stolen Relics_ , I found it getting longer and longer and realized that it would be at least 10,000 words before the Frostiron bit happened. (Actually, it turned out to be almost 20,000.) I didn't figure that was what darke-wulf had requested, so I wrote a shorter Frostiron for her ([Lost Creatures](http://archiveofourown.org/works/698460)) and then got back to work on this because I liked it too much to ditch it. Thank you for challenging me, darke-wulf!
> 
> Also, thank you to Grey Bard, who betaed a lot of this fic and has had to listen to me whinging about it since the end of November.
> 
> You can follow my writing tumblr at [http://www.kadorienne.tumblr.com](http://www.kadorienne.tumblr.com/) or join my ml at [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KadorienneSlash](http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KadorienneSlash/). Both are very low-trafficked; almost all the posts are me announcing that I've posted a new fic or vid, so it won't spam your dash or your inbox.
> 
> And again, thank you, all of you! *wipes tears*


	37. Fan Art - Zine Cover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crana Hana's gorgeous cover for the zine of this fic. 
> 
> The zine was originally published by Agent With Style. It is now available again from Requiem Publications at http://requiem.ravenshadow.net/ !

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not only do I have cover art to share, I also wanted to make sure everyone heard about a 2700-word sequel fic Filigree wrote in the Stolen Relics 'verse. I am so excited about both of these things!
> 
> [Middle Kingdom](http://archiveofourown.org/works/798558) by Filigree

  


by Crane Hana

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Middle Kingdom](https://archiveofourown.org/works/798558) by [Filigree](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Filigree/pseuds/Filigree)




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